State of Takeover: Cause That's How I Roll!
by Instant Classic Superstar Pac
Summary: Right as she declares unfinished business, Captain Charisma suddenly returns and is talking to her. The result is the first seed of a new Coalition set to turn the world upside down. Christian, Maryse, Tomko, Morrison, Miz. DISCONTINUED. Read end.
1. Return of The Captain

_**State of Takeover: Cause That's How I Roll!**_ by Instant Classic Superstar Pac

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and this is not linked to any of my other stories.

Rating: T

Summary: Right as she declares unfinished business, Captain Charisma suddenly returns and is talking to her. The result is the first seed of a new Coalition set to turn the world upside down. (Christian, Maryse, three other guys, and an eventual pairing.)

-

NOTE: Well, ladies and gentlemen, I didn't wanna keep you guys waiting too long. Especially since I don't plan on the first few chapters being really long by my standards, so I kinda don't see the need to drag it out. Well, hope you guys have fun with this. Cause I sure as hell plan to.

Oh, and you guys might've noticed the complete overhaul in my Pen Name from its previous "Dizzle the Lord of Superstars", right? Hopefully my run with this one turns out to be more fun.

**Chapter 1: Return of The Captain**

_Event Date: Friday, September 12, 2008_

Location: Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI

The black-haired beauty continued to crawl towards the opposite side of the ring where her two partners were, successfully closing much of the gap despite struggling within the strong clutches of her dark red-haired foe. However, before she could make the tag to one of her partners, the dark redhead's partners, another dyed redhead and a sultry blonde, both came rushing in. The second redhead, the more plump one of the two, attacked the black-haired girl's skinnier blonde partner, shoving her off the ring apron, while her much more attractive blonde partner took out the black-haired one's third partner, another redhead, this one with more facial cuteness than Lindsay Lohan, in much the same way. The two Canadian young ladies then helped their redheaded ally pull the black-haired girl not just over to their side of the ring, but all the way to the outside.

The raven-haired belle decided to try and take the opportunity to crawl underneath the ring, a tradition which she has been employing during all of her matches, which officially irked the darker redhead amongst the opponents. This time, both of her enemy redheads went down there after her, and the darker one came out dragging her back by the leg, then picked her up and threw her into the ring. As the dark redhead came in after her, the black-haired one suddenly turned around and got her with a surprise takedown into a rollover Jackknife bridge cover, stealing a quick 1, 2, 3 in trademark fashion.

As the bell rang and the tune of "Not Enough for Me" came on, both teams' partners came into the ring and rushed at each other, leading to the winning team paying the losing team back those earlier forearm shoves and then kicking them out of the ring, during which the ring announcer went on:

"And the winners of this match, the team of Brie Bella, Maria, and the Divas Champion, Michelle McCool!"

Supposedly the great baby face ladies of Smackdown, this trio barely got a reaction as they won, the only really ecstatic people being themselves as they celebrated with their arms high and their opponents recollected themselves on the outside. A Smackdown graphic would soon come up on the titantron and on television screens telling the Smackdown audience that General Manager Vickie Guerrero and the Big Show would soon be explaining why Show attacked the Undertaker five nights ago at the Unforgiven pay-per-view. However, right as this graphic faded, a voice immediately blared on arena loudspeakers.

"Hold on a minute!" was the shout that was coming from inside the ring now. The person on the microphone was the French-Canadian hot blonde, Maryse, flanked on both sides by her tag team partners, Natalya and Victoria. They had taken a microphone and headed into the ring during that graphic, as their conquerors casually headed up the ramp… that is, until Maryse spoke and was greeted with a totally ineffective slight modicum of boos.

"Brie Bella, do you think that was funny what you did?" Maryse then asked, her French accent sounding clear, to which Brie actually nodded and excitedly mouthed off a yes with a smile on her face, no less. "You know, I don't know what's going on underneath that ring, but whatever it is, you must think it's funny - even though everyone knows that it's not. Let me take a guess… taking secret vitamins? Excited by the darkness? Maybe you are kissing Hornswoggle under the ring?" Then she noticed the boos getting a little louder, but more importantly, she noticed her main rival, the Shandi Sullivan-like Michelle McCool, starting to shout insults in defense of Brie, not even realizing how little sense it makes for an "all-American role model diva" to be defending a lie without even knowing what it is.

"And you! Michelle," Maryse continued, coyly stating her rival's name before getting serious again. "You have no right to call yourself an All-America Diva when for all you know, you could be standing up for Brie hiding a twin sister or taking some drugs." That point actually aroused moans of shock from the fans, as well as left Brie and her partners wide-eyed in shock, especially Brie, which told Maryse and her partners they were getting somewhere. "But I don't care about Brie Bella. At least, not as much as I care about beating you for that Divas Championship. I am not finished with you yet, Michelle. I want, I deserve, I demand, and I damn sure intend to get another title shot."

Then a familiar violin chord introduction started playing, and a familiar face started coming on the Titantron. Every one of these ladies was now looking very shocked, and the fans were now screaming at the possibility that was just introduced - most of them remembered the person shining all over the titantron, and all of them have at least heard of him. As the intro concluded, leading to the WWE edit of the Waterproof Blonde song, "Just Close Your Eyes", the possibility became extremely clear, right in front of all their faces. About 20 seconds into the actual rock of the song, a figure came through the curtains in black boots, blue jeans, and that ever familiar black and gold hooded sweater. A close-up of the figure there would reveal that very unmistakable face, once and for all enforcing to fans that the Man of the Peeps himself, Captain Charisma, **Christian**, was officially back inside a WWE arena! (Imagine Jim Ross and Tazz marking out: "It's him! It's Christian! Captain Charisma's back! I can't believe it!")

Pointing a fingered kiss across the crowd as he stood at the stage, Christian then decided to walk on forwards, coming down the ramp in his usual charismatic stance. McCool and her partners made sure to step aside and to greet him with smiles as he came by. Flattered yet unimpressed, he simply pointed to them and greeted them with a "hey, ladies" not once losing stride on anything he said. Meanwhile, Natalya, Victoria, and Maryse all watched as he climbed up the steel steps, crossed the apron to get into the ring, and got on a turnbuckle, doing his usual trademark gesture of taking off his hood and pointing a kiss to that side of the audience - and _everyone_ reacted positively to it. He also thumped his chest and made gestures towards himself and the crowd, shouting that he was back in front of his WWE peeps and proud of it, before coming down the ramp and spinning around with his arms outstretched, taking in their adulation with a smile, at which point the ladies in the ring all turned to leave, Victoria first, then Natalya, then finally Maryse. But before the last of the trio could get anywhere…

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, Maryse, hold on a second! I kinda actually needed to talk to you!" Christian quickly called to her after taking out a microphone from his ring sweater. This call to her attention actually convinced her to turn around and come back into the ring. Surprisingly, the moment actually got some cheers.

"You're gonna have to bear with me here, I wanna address all my Peeps out here a little first," Christian informed her, before turning to the crowd, which was giving him cheers to soak in for days. But he didn't exactly have days, he had about 20 seconds, before he wanted to keep going. On that note, he turned to the stage, where McCool, Maria, and Bella were slowly retreating into.

"First of all, I see you guys leaving, and I just wanna say something to one of you right away- Maria; please. Don't steal my hood," he joked, as Maria put on her best sheepish grin and the crowd cheered in response. Natalya and Victoria, slowly going up the ramp, actually tried to poke fun at Maria, pointing and laughing like schoolhouse brats. Maryse was much more pure about her amusement, simply laughing.

"But on a serious note, it feels really good to steal a line multiple times from my old friend the Rock and say, finally, the Man of the Peeps has come back to Friday Night Smackdown! Finally, the Show Stealer has come back to the WWE! And finally, Captain Charisma has come back to kicking the holy living hell out of anybody on Smackdown, cause that's how I roll!" And at saying his Captain Charisma catchphrase, all Christian could do is grin along with his adoring fans as they chanted his name. But after awhile, even that couldn't last. Sadly, he had to get serious, the grin receding within ten seconds.

"As many of you may know, or at least some of you may know, last time I appeared in a WWE ring was almost three years ago. And since that time, I've been away. I've been wrestling in other places, I've been honing my craft in other places, and I've been winning titles in other places. And in that time, I've become… well, something of an instant classic," he stated, alluding to his time in a certain Jarrett-run company in the South. "But tonight, I come here and I say, that I am here, I am back in the saddle, and I am ready to prove to everybody out here just why the name Captain Charisma actually means something! And if anybody from Smackdown, from Triple H to the Undertaker to Vladimir Kozlov to MVP to that guy copying my formula of 'charismatic superstar with a bodyguard', tries to confront me and say otherwise, let me make this clear - my name is not Edge, and it's damn sure as hell not Chavo Guerrero! I am not my former tag team partner, nor am I the other guy who once called him a 'brother'! I'm not gonna back down like a co-dependent coward or lean on Vickie Guerrero for anything! Instead, I'm gonna take my pimp hand which is way strong, slap 'em right in their ugly face, and prove to them why I am what I say that I am, and that's the true champion of the universe!"

Again, he stopped to note the shouts of approval coming from the stands, which put a grin on his face. By this point, all the Divas other than Maryse had already retreated to the back. Speaking of Maryse, Christian just remembered about her and turned around, only to see that she was already turned around herself and starting to walk away.

"Hey! Hold on a second! In case you didn't know, I just got to the part where I start to talk to you. I just had to get everything for my Peeps out of the way first, but now I'm ready for ya. Come on, you think I just called you to stay here just so you could listen to me address the fans? What kind of a fumbling moron do you think I am, anyway?" And on that note, he got back her attention, leading to her walking over to him.

"See, Maryse, I just wanna say that I've actually kept a close eye on you in the ring, cause I noticed something. You and I are both actually a lot alike."

"Oh? Are you serious?" she asked off-mike, having actually dropped her microphone the first time she turned to leave, now actually a little pleasantly surprised at what Christian was saying.

"Yeah, we are. See, you fancy yourself as… no, wait, you _are_ the Sexiest of the Sexy around here, and everybody knows that I am Captain Charisma. You are the hotness, and I, am the champ," he pointed out, a comparison which brought a smile and a nod to her face. "Now as far as in the ring goes, I can tell for damn certain that you might be good, but you've got one whole hell of a lotta work to do. And it's all centered around one thing; focus."

"Excuse me? I didn't ask for you to come out here and keep me here so you can criticize me," she suddenly shot, taking major objection to the negative parts of her in-ring work.

"I didn't come here just to criticize you. I mean, seriously. Can you please listen to the Captain when he's talkin' about making things happen?" Christian asked in a witty rhyme.

"Making what happen?" Maryse then asked, getting rather irritated.

"Making us happen," Christian bluntly answered, which actually took her aback a little. "See, you've got a lot of work to do, but I see your potential, and I see how you've already become real seasoned in the ring in just a few months of major action, and I'm actually impressed. So I wanna see if I can help you bring out that potential. The way I see it, you and I can have an argument right here in the ring which accomplishes nothing, or we can forge a partnership by which we can accomplish some great things. I was thinking, if you agree to become a sidekick to me, to help me out and to have my back on my quest to prove that I am the champ, you can personally learn from me the tricks of the trade to this business and become good enough to kick Michelle McCool's ass for the Divas title, no questions asked!" That proposal was cheered by most of the fans, who actually liked this move, while some of them saw visions of Christian gaining an obnoxious French-Canadian lackey and decided to turn and boo.

"How can I be sure you're really gonna do that?" Maryse asked, without a single hesitation or mincing of the words.

"Well, it's real simple," he replied. "In these other places I've been to, I've taken two guys who had all the talent in the world but absolutely no charisma whatsoever and turned them into tag team champions while at the same time winning some world heavyweight championships of my own, so I'm damn sure I can get this job done! And now comes the time for me to ask you the question. Are you in, or are you out?"

As he extended a hand to he, anticipation started building within the crowd as Maryse pondered over what to do here, whether she should accept Christian's offer or leave him high and dry. Part of her didn't know whether or not she could trust the guy, as he did have a shady record. But then again… so did she. Already. In her short time here, she's already played lounge lizard to Vickie Guerrero a time or two without ever really doing anything for her, and she's combusted the entire life of a slice of cherry pie that doesn't even work here anymore. In any case, Maryse knew this opportunity, to learn from Christian and learn how to defeat McCool, was not something she could ever plan to take lightly. And if he, or any man, for that matter, tried to step out of line with her, well, she had both the ego and the tactics to successfully play keep away. So for the love of God…

"Yes. I'm in. I accept," she finally decided, then accepted Christian's handshake, following which the audience finally let go and cheered fully. Accompanied by Christian's theme music, the newly aligned duo raised arms up high in the air, celebrating the moment a little before leaving the ring together. Christian allowed his beautiful lady pupil to get out of the ring first, before getting on a turnbuckle, scanning the audience, and then turning her way and pointing to her, declaring her a new loyal peep off-mike. She actually heard him and laughed, amused at this guy's egocentric antics, before he came off the turnbuckle and followed her out of the ring, then passed her with a tap or two on the shoulder and led her up the ramp. Once on the stage, the two turned around, Christian pointed more kisses to the audience while Maryse posed her hair-flicking "sexy pose", and this new duo finally turned to leave.

A good few minutes later, Maryse and Christian had already both headed back over to her locker room, where she asked him to wait outside so she could get in and change. As she was doing so, Christian ended up greeted by a few of the workers, eager to welcome him back to the WWE. However, nobody from the roster really had designs on being as friendly to the guy, and were not gonna pretend they were. Very few of them knew him, and those that did he wasn't always on the most positive of terms with. Especially those on Smackdown.

He knew that if he ran into any of them that they would still be cordial, they would still be people, they would still welcome him back like anyone should, but they weren't gonna go out of their way to find him in order to do so. Which is why he was actually _thankful_ that Maryse was able to get herself a locker room apart from all the other Divas and outside the pathway of most of the Smackdown Superstars. He could get a little peace and think about the next step in his plan to shake up and take over the WWE without the interruptions of, per se, his old rival and occasional friend Jeff Hardy.

He would be interrupted, however, by the opening of Maryse's locker room door as she came out in a black dress that looked much like Beth Phoenix's old wrestling singlet with the false Amazon skirt tights, except the skirt of it was actually a normal miniskirt and the outfit had enough shine it made her look glamorous. As Christian eyed her at that moment, she could tell he was totally impressed.

"Like what you see?" she asked, getting a little witty and somewhat flirtatious, solely to test the guy.

"Yeah, I really do," Christian admitted, before getting serious. "But your tail's not what I came for."

"My tail? Excuse me, but this outfit clearly screams out 'look but don't touch', Christian," Maryse pointed out.

"How was I supposed to get that message?" he decided to inquire.

"Do you not see the shine of this outfit and the elegance of how it fits?" Maryse pointed out to him. "I'm not just hot; I'm way beyond the league of any man - or woman, for that matter - who my presence gives an orgasm. I had this outfit made specifically to demonstrate that."

"Wow. You do take your sex appeal for an art form," Christian realized aloud.

"And what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing. I'm just ready to teach ya how to separate it from the art form you're supposed to be applying in the ring," he reminded her. "And we better get started fast. Vickie Guerrero's not gonna hesitate to put you in a match next week, and after that I got a friend to introduce you to. Come on." He then started to walk in the direction of the parking lot, Maryse tailing him close behind. Eventually, they got to the parking lot, specifically to his rental car, which was a red Porsche Cayman S - much like his car at home in Tampa, except that one's black.

"By the way, Christian, who is this friend you speak of?" the French-Canadian glamour model asked as she went to the front passenger's side.

"Let's just say we're gonna end up having a lot of problems, and we need this man to help us take care of 'em," Christian hinted vaguely, taking out his car keys. Unfortunately, at least for time's sake, a WWE dot com Exclusive cameraman and Eve Torres with a microphone came rushing over to Christian, forcing him and his new "apprentice" to stop everything.

"Christian, much like all your 'Peeps' in the WWE Universe, everybody in the Smackdown locker room is absolutely shocked at your return to the WWE, especially in the way that you just did it. Can you tell us what the meaning of all this is, and why take on Maryse as your protégé?" she asked, her journalistic integrity slightly compromised by the tone of that last part.

"You're that girl I heard won the last Diva Search, right? What's your name again? Eve?" he asked back.

"Yeah. Yeah, that's me," Eve replied.

"Thanks. Anyway, you sounded like you were sneering a little bit when you asked me about Maryse. Now, why is that, huh? Can you tell me? Got a grudge or something against her?" Christian asked, taking liberties to put his guesses in Eve's mouth.

"No, I wasn't-"

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, hold on a second. I got a better question for you to answer instead. How much have you grown in the ring in the past few months?" he suddenly cut in, interrupting her reply as he put her on the spot.

"Well, I may not have even had a match, but I've actually done a lot of training" Eve answered, somehow staying professional despite Christian's irritations.

"Exactly," Christian retorted nonetheless, ignoring the shocked look on her face which otherwise would've spelled out that he wasn't growing in favor with the interviewer. "Now, let me explain this. The whole design of what I'm doing, including taking in Maryse, can be best described in two words; progress, and potential. That's how I roll."

As Eve stood there, still stunned at his bluntness when it came to her empty wrestling track record, Christian opened the driver's door, pressed a button from inside to open the passenger doors. He and Maryse then got into the car, closed it, and Christian started the engine, the sound of which brought Eve back to earth as she instantly realized she never got anywhere with what the interview was for to begin with.

"Christian, wait!" she called, but to no avail, even though he probably heard her. Nevertheless, he completely ignored her, pulling out of the parking lot as Maryse lowered the window on her side to wave goodbye to Eve, then driving off.

-

A/N: I think I might've spoiled one of said "three other guys". Other than the probably 2-3 people who already know about this, I'd like to see y'all take a guess as to who it is that I spoiled in your reviews. Speaking of which, mind tossing me a few reviews there, peeps? I'd like to see some o' your thoughts on this.

Oh, and if I made Christian too much of a prick here… we all know Christian in character is a cool prick. Might as well play on it.

Later, peeps!

-Pac


	2. Three Point Stances

_**State of Takeover: Cause That's How I Roll!**_ by Instant Classic Superstar Pac

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and this is not linked to any of my other stories.

Rating: T

Summary: Right as she declares unfinished business, Captain Charisma suddenly returns and is talking to her. The result is the first seed of a new Coalition set to turn the world upside down. (Christian, Maryse, three other guys, and an eventual pairing.)

-

NOTE: Not to steal a tactic from my good friend TheRealRenee, since I'm probably not gonna do this all the time, but I would like to thank purplefeather21 and IAmMeAndNoOneElse for reviewing the last chapter. To be honest, I was kinda surprised that both of your favorite part of that chapter was Eve Torres getting chewed out by Christian. I actually thought that part would've gotten some sort of a backlash for making Christian seem like too much of an asshole.

As far as the pairing goes, feather, I'm not gonna spoil any details, and I would agree with you that I do have an interesting pairing in mind, but while we're assuming we know just exactly who the eventual pairing is that I'm talking about, I still have the three other dudes to file into the equation. And after just checking your profile, I get a good feeling you're really gonna like this one.

**Chapter 2: Three-Point Stances**

_Part 1_

_Event Date: Wednesday, September 17, 2008_

Location: A Holiday Inn in Jacksonville, FL

"I see your guys got the tapes in now," Christian said, speaking to a friend over the phone. "Nice job." Takes a slight pause as the friend talks to him. "Nah, she's not here right now, but she's supposed to be comin' in around this time." Upon another pause, something his friend said caused him to chuckle. "Yeah, I know. She's something, I'll tell ya that." Another pause. "Nah, he's not here either. Matter of fact, I'm not supposed to really meet with him cause I don't want Maryse to actually know who he is before I introduce him on Smackdown. But hey, since you haven't spoken to him in awhile, I'll give him a call and get him to pay you tomorrow before he follows me and her out to Nashville, alright?" Another slight pause. "Hey, don't sweat it, I'm rolling right now, okay?" Then came a knock on the door.

"Hello? Christian?" a certain feminine accented voice called from the other side of the door.

"It's her, and I think she's ready. I'll talk to ya later, man. Keep flyin', alright?" Quick pause. "Cool. See ya." He then hung up and finally got up off the bed in his hotel room, going to answer the door and let Maryse in.

"You know, it shouldn't take close to fifteen seconds for a man to open the door for a beautiful woman like me," Maryse pointed out as she walked in and Christian closed the door.

"Yeah, well, I was on the phone with a friend. Not the same guy I'm gonna introduce you to, though," he retorted. "And in case you couldn't figure it out, I'm not trying to get you in bed."

"Hey, what's this?" Maryse then asked, pointing to a small cardboard box that was just laying there on the bed.

"Oh, this?" Christian noted, going around the bed to get it. "This box has a couple tapes with a few of your matches in it. I wanted to look over something with you first thing that I noticed in one of your matches." He then opened the box, took out one of the tapes, and put it into a VCR he bought and had put into the room, right next to the television set. He took the remote control off the top of the TV and turned it on, then turned on the VCR and started to play and forward the tape in order to look at something.

"Could you get the chairs set up? I wanna get a good look at this," Christian requested, to which she said sure and got the chairs on the side of the bed, setting them up in front of it so they could sit and watch. As they finally sat down, the tape actually got past the point he wanted to address in a certain match, so he pressed rewind until he got to where he wanted. The match in question was a six-diva tag team match featuring Michelle McCool, Kelly Kelly, and the recently released Cherry against Maryse and her recent friends, the then-still-blonde Natalya Neidhart and of course Victoria. Maryse's team, or, based on whose entrance music played for the three of them at the time, Natalya's team, just finished their entrance together and the bell rang, with Maryse and Michelle McCool starting the match for their two teams. On the other side of the tape, Maryse, at the moment, seeing where this was going, simply scoffed and slapped her forehead.

"Something tells me you know your own mistake here," Christian stated, not missing a beat as he put the tape on pause.

"Yes, I do. I cannot believe I was actually this stupid," she remarked.

"So what, you want me to stop it now?" Christian then asked her.

"No, go ahead and play it," Maryse reluctantly conceded, explaining that, "I probably need this."

"Oh yeah," Christian replied, before pressing play again. Immediately the tape revealed that Maryse had then decided to spent her time boasting superiority to Michelle and doing her hair-flicking "pose of sexiness" to the crowd, then as soon as she turned around got kicked in the gut and thrown down by the hair courtesy of Michelle McCool. Maryse then got helped up, arm wrenched, irishwhipped, then managed to hold off a hip toss, only for Michelle to change beats and get her with a Russian leg sweep into a quick float over pin cover. Maryse kicked out after two and then went crawling to tag in Victoria. At that point, the tape was stopped by Christian, who simply looked at Maryse shaking her head and laughing sardonically.

"What was so funny about that?" Christian then asked her, getting her attention as she turned around to him.

"Simple, Christian. Just what the hell was I thinking when I did that?" Maryse asked back, answering his question with one of her own. "I've already watched this about four times and I still couldn't figure it out."

"It's real simple. You weren't thinking. Not about wrestling, anyway. You were so totally focused on flaunting your body and proving your great incomparable sex appeal you completely forgot the fact that you even had a match," Christian replied, giving his impression on the event in question. "And trust me. You are far from the first person for me to have to tell that to."

"You've used to deal with girls who were obsessed with their bodies?" Maryse guessed curiously.

"No, I've dealt with people who needed to learn how to focus on taking care of business when they were in the ring," the older Canadian promptly corrected. "Honestly, though, I have dealt with a woman, a pretty hot blonde from Canada, who really thought highly of herself. She knew how to focus and do her thing in the ring, though, and she wasn't any underling or protégé I was picking up or anything."

"Trish Stratus," the pupil jumped to guess. Christian then patted her on the shoulder.

"You're a quick study," Christian remarked as Maryse simply giggled an "aw shucks" giggle - a rare moment where she actually showed some humility. Taking an internal note of it as good progress, Christian then stood up.

"What's going on?" Maryse asked as she followed along.

"I'm actually really surprised. You're a lot more teachable than I thought," he complimented her. Big mistake, as all he just did was inflate her ego.

"Thanks, but I know. It takes a great attention span to be an artist like moi," she, naturally, bragged, throwing in a bit of French along the way.

"Whoa- hey! Quit the high strung act. Right there, you ruined the vibe," Christian stated, getting into a short tirade. "I'm trying to mentor you, teach you a little somethin', show you the ropes, be your friend, help you get better, and you turn around and do the exact same thing I was just telling you not to do?"

"Can you relax? We're not in the ring. I don't think it's such a big deal to my career if I have some fun in a hotel room," Maryse replied nonchalantly.

"Depends on what kinda fun you're talking about," Christian joked with a sardonic laugh of his own as he opened the door and walked on out.

"Hey, I resent that!" Maryse shouted, coming after him a couple seconds later. And so continued yet another comically hard-dealing day for Christian and Maryse, this one happening upstairs at the Holiday Inn closest to Jacksonville International Airport.

_Part 2_

_Event Date: Friday, September 19, 2008_

Location: Sommet Center, Nashville, TN

Immediately to start off Smackdown, or should we say immediately after the opening video, the opening pyro, and the graphics hyping up the return of Carlito's Cabana with Primo Colon as Carlito's "guest" and the main event match between Triple H and MVP, Michelle McCool's theme came on and she came speed walking down the ramp, pumping fists, high fiving the front row, and doing her usual entrance with the legs as always, then came in the ring and got on a turnbuckle to raise her title in the air, which she kept on doing even after she came down - getting very limited fanfare.

Then came the time for "Ooh Oui", the French entrance theme song of Maryse. Coming out in one of those fine long ring jackets, she sauntered to the ring, still cocky as ever. She got a mixed reaction, basically the same amount of cheers Michelle got except accompanied by the same amount of boos as well, meaning she already had more of the people's attention than McCool as the cheers came in simply because of the moment last week with Christian. Of course, she got on the apron to the same side as Michelle came in, and did her sexy pose, before slowly walking the ropes until her music went out.

As the ref held up the Divas Championship in the air and then got it out of the ring, Maryse finally settled down and thought about what Christian told her last week. Sure enough, his guess was even more than correct, it was absolute. Thanks to the value of being aligned with Christian, Vickie Guerrero decided not just to book her in a match, but to give her a second opportunity at the Divas title.

Then came the ring bell. After circling the ring, the two divas locked up, then had an exchange of some technical wrestling, which Michelle took some brief control of with a turnaround leg sweep takedown. Maryse was able to turn things around and eventually get in a headlock takedown, which Michelle briefly reversed into a cover before Maryse kicked out at one. Michelle then used her legs to get Maryse in a headlock, which Maryse began to fight out of and flip over Michelle to get her back in a side headlock, before Michelle fought her way up and out of it, irishwhipping Maryse only to get knocked back down with a shoulder block. Getting a little cocky, Maryse then picked her up and threw her right back down to the ground by the hair, before going to the ropes and doing her sexy pose.

Still maintaining control, a kick to the midsection and a couple of forearms later, Maryse irishwhipped her, missed a clothesline as she came back, then did the splits only for Michelle to do a front-flip jump to get over her, then jump on her back to get back in front of her, then turn around quickly to get her with a lower dropkick to the face. As Maryse rolled to the outside to get some breathing room from Michelle after than, McCool went to the apron in front of her and mocked her sexy pose right to her face to draw her in. In the ring, Maryse then wasted about ten seconds whining about her beautiful face being damaged, before predictably rushing at McCool and getting redirected through the ropes to the outside. Michelle then came to the apron and got ahold of her by the hair, only for Maryse to clothesline the back of her legs and leave her laying there. She then set her head up over the edge, seizing her up before kicking her in the face, shoving her back into the ring, and egotistically getting right back to posing as she got on the apron herself. A look inside Christian's locker room would indicate a small chuckle of being slightly amused, but not impressed in the least.

Of course, Maryse had enough wherewithal to notice Michelle was coming over to her and respond in kind with a lower dropkick, then get in the ring and briefly cover Michelle, only for McCool to kick out and Maryse to get back to wasting more time showboating her beauty and hopping around, until finally she kicked Michelle back down from sitting up and mounted on top of her and punched her a couple times, which Michelle reversed into a sunset flip style pin cover. Maryse kicked out after two, then the two ladies exchanged forearm shivers on their knees, before the two got up to a vertical base and Maryse kneed Michelle in the stomach. Maryse continued by slamming the All-American Girl down by the hair face first, before flipping over her into a camel clutch. McCool managed to fight her way up and out, only to get slammed on the back of her head again and covered by Maryse - who, by the way, only used one hand to hook the leg, showing off with the other hand - and to kick out after two. Maryse then got up with Michelle's hair in hand, getting in a few more forearms before irishwhipping Michelle into the corner. Michelle used that to jump on the second turnbuckle, then stuck her legs out, which Maryse caught and pushed out of the ring.

Michelle, though, managed to land on her feet on the apron, go down and head butt Maryse's gut, buying enough time to get back in the ring and hit Maryse with a slingshot dropkick. Maryse got back up and took a clothesline, then a missile dropkick, then a kick to the midsection followed up by a running front flip neck breaker. Michelle then covered her for a two-count, following which she scattered to a corner and hit Michelle with a hard elbow to the jaw, before coming at her with a clothesline. Michelle ducked the clothesline, reached behind her to llink both of their arms together, then used that to turn both ladies around and get Maryse in a double underhook, before lifting her up so that her legs stuck out high in the air and dropping her on her face with the Wings of Love. It was all said and done there. McCool covered Maryse. 1, 2, 3.

"The winner of this match, and still Divas Champion, Michelle McCool!"

As "Not Enough For Me" came on again, McCool was actually a little drained from the contest as she was handed back her belt. After the Wings of Love replay, Michelle was outside the ring, still favoring the back of her he head a bit before high fiving the front row. Meanwhile, Maryse was sitting on the floor, sort of recollecting herself and playing with her hair.

Then came on the theme everybody wanted to hear and thought they would at some point - "Just Close Your Eyes" by Waterproof Blonde. And then came out Captain Charisma himself, Christian, dressed in that cool black and white Japanese-looking shirt and blue jeans. As he came out to a plethora of cheers, Christian came across Michelle on the stage and briefly glanced at her, before focusing back on Maryse, who by now was fixated on him as well as he had a microphone in hand, leading to a commercial break.

About three, four minutes later, the show came back from commercial, and Christian was now in the ring as Maryse, was now standing up. A few seconds and the music finally faded.

"First of all, Maryse, even though you completely embarrassed yourself out here by once again deciding to pose more than wrestle in the middle of a match, I'm not gonna come out here and yell at you. Why? Cause as the True Champ, the way I see it, you can probably already tell where this is going anyway," Christian began everything. Getting cheered a little bit for that, he finally turned towards the steel steps and walked them up, then crossed the apron to get in the ring, meeting Maryse in there as she picked herself up. "Now, Maryse, I know I said last week I wasn't gonna keep you out here just so you can hear me address the fans, but tonight… I really think you're gonna want to stick around for this one." He then turned to the crowd.

"Now, I'm about to say something that I've admitted in my lifetime, but never to the Peeps in the WWE Universe yet, and that's this: Christian, is a prick. Captain Charisma is an asshole. And while I may have beaten up more people and kicked more ass accidentally than most people have on purpose, I've also irritated and bothered more people in this ring than I care to remember t o the point where all that they wanted to do was knock me on my ass," Christian promptly admitted, getting both cheered and booed based on fans' understanding of his self-deprecation. "Yet despite it all, I don't go out of my way to piss off any of you fans, I simply call on my charisma and hope that you will get behind me without the teleprompters over there at the table-" (points to the announcer's table) "telling you I'm a stand-up guy just a couple days after busting somebody up unnecessarily or using my finishing maneuver on a woman who hasn't even been trained to wrestle or fight whatsoever. And I think the one person in the back who some in gothic circles refer to as His Darkness can tell you exactly what I'm talking about." Yet another piece of mixed reaction, yet this one was leaning on the side of cheers a little further.

"See, I've kinda come to the conclusion that it really doesn't help anybody by actually trying to be a good guy or trying to be a bad guy - or, at the very least, it doesn't help me," Christian went on. "I don't try to be either one. I am Captain Charisma just because I am. Not because I try to be good or bad, but because I accept the fact that I'm human and that I'm far from perfect with pride. So I don't hold myself to some false standard of virtue or revel in filth intentionally. Whenever I do something I wanna do, it's because, as the great Lita once said, it just feels right. Which is a lesson the entire Smackdown locker room could sure as hell learn.

"See, here on Smackdown, you got a bunch of guys who, for some reason or another, should be embarrassed with themselves considering what they paint themselves as," Christian pointed out. "First you got this guy called Montel Roster Williams or something who claims he's the Franchise Player, but his massive income just became questionable cause he can't even seem to win matches anymore." Brief cheers came to Christian for making that statement on MVP.

"Then we got Rainbow Bright himself, Jeff Hardy. who's dynamic, dazzling, and who has more control of his personal life than his easily jealous relationship train wreck of a brother… except he can't stay out of extracurricular activities long enough to keep a job and now he's on his last wing." Immediately, it all turned into boos the world over. The Hardy Christian liked to jokingly call "Crazy Jeff" was just that popular.

"Then you got Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder, two guys who claim to be loyal protégés and end up getting taught how to become champions, only to abandon their mentor for the evil, ugly, fat, decrepit, cold, heartless, and terribly annoying hag who brought said mentor down using her powers as the General Manager of Smackdown. And that mentor himself, my former partner Edge, was supposed to be a rebel who did what felt right no matter the cost, but lately he's become a co-dependent coward _who actually needed_ to lean on a corrupt partnership with this slob of a boss, to the point where the condo in Hell where he now resides is a place he deserves." Edge, Hawkins and Ryder: 0. Christian: 3. Fans: their intense approval just gave Christian that 3.

"Then there's the Undertaker and Triple H, two legends of this business who have a history of walking over people and being ruthless and evil, and who, despite everything the telemarketers at the announcer's table will tell you, have not changed a bit with the exception of the fact that their targets are people all of you do not like." Oddly enough, that's the exact reason Triple H and Undertaker were now cheered in the first place. So Christian was cheered for this, but only because he reminded people why they bowed down to the King of Kings and the Lord of Darkness.

"My reasoning for calling out the characters of both fan favorites and public enemies wasn't just to go around bashing people, it was actually to prove a point," Christian started to finally explain. "The point is… I didn't come here to be buddy-buddy with all the good guys or to create chummy little alliances with all the bad guys. And as a matter of fact, I've been around long enough, and I can tell ya straight up: in this business, it's all about striving to inevitably become the world… heavyweight… champion!" Cheers instantly started coming in as he made that statement clear. "And when it comes to being a world champion, there's no such things as good guys or bad guys anymore - just a locker room filled with a bunch of mad assholes trying to blaze their own trails to get the championship at any cost. And to emphasize that, tonight, I'm gonna bring someone back here to the WWE. I'm gonna bring someone back who's been on both the good side and the bad side of both myself and my Peeps. A man who one second I could trust with my life, and who's actually stabbed him in the back in other places the next. A man who's been called the Man of Principles, and the Problem Solver. Last time he was here, everybody knew him by the first name Tyson, but now he's told me he would like to use his real first name. So Peeps, I know I've been talking a little much here, but I believe it's worth it, cause now I bring back to you… **Travis Tomko!**"

Whoa! What an announcement there by Christian! Many of the fans started to get on their feet for Tomko, and even Maryse started growing a huge smile on her face as she finally just realized who this friend was that Christian was talking to her about! But after awhile, there was no music, and there was no Tomko, so it all died down and turned into boos.

"Trust me, ladies and gentlemen, I know he's back there. He was probably impressed by how much respect the WWE Universe has actually just fed his rising star, so come on already, Peeps, you gotta will him on!" Christian shouted, trying to encourage the fans to show even more support for Tomko! "Come on, guys! Help me out here! Do some chanting or something! Come on, say it with me now!" He then broke into chanting tone. "Tomko! Tomko! Tomko! Tomko!"

And that chanting actually spread out into parts of the crowd, continuing on until the 10th or 11th chant of his name… until, finally, something finally started blaring out over the loudspeakers. And within seconds, accompanied by a video on the titantron, that something quickly proved to be a modified version of "Screwed", Tomko's TNA theme track - and the crowd went wild!

Surely enough, not too long afterwards, Tomko actually did come out from behind the curtain, walking down the ramp with a smile and a stride pointing to Christian and Maryse, who were all smiles themselves in the ring. As he made his way up the steps and across the ropes into the ring, the fans started to chant his name. This sight made Christian proud, as he was finally reunited with his old friend once again, and his plan was coming together perfectly.

Tomko then went up the turnbuckle and pointed across the fans with both arms before extending his arms in menacing fashion and screaming, which earned him many cheers on the turnbuckle before he came off with a smile and met his longtime friend Christian in the center of the ring. The talk was brief and all smiles, following which they shook hands, bumped shoulders, and even had a short embrace. Once the hug broke, all three parties in this trio of Tomko, Christian, and Maryse raised their arms high in the air in the center of the ring for everyone to see and cheer about it. Once all arms were lowered, Christian went on a turnbuckle to look around and gesture to the Peeps again as Tomko high fived Maryse and briefly put an arm around her, as the show headed to break.

About an hour or so later, as Carlito's Cabana just finished deteriorating with the help of those same tag team champions, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder, along with the team of Jesse and Festus. As a matter of fact, Christian, Maryse, and Tomko were talking in front of Christian's locker room door, having simply hung around the back until now.

"Tomko, I still cannot believe the reaction you got when you came back," Maryse commented on the major situation going on.

"You know what, it only goes to show ya. The fans can feel it in the air, they know for a fact that Tomko, much like myself, is a heck of a lot better than he was before," Christian replied with pride all over his voice. "Ain't that right Tomko?"

"Yeah, man, that's absolutely true. And you know the first place I can thank for that?" Tomko asked.

"No, where?" Maryse redirected the question.

"My favorite country in the whole world other than the United States: Japan," Tomko answered, after which a light bulb went off in Maryse's head.

"Oh, yeah," Maryse sounded off. "I remember something about that. You've done quite a bit of training over there, haven't you?"

"You better believe it," Tomko confidently replied.

"Let me help you out, Maryse. Let me just help you understand something about what just happened. See, you were just as impressive in the ring against Michelle McCool as I was on the microphone just now gettin' to the point of bringing Tomko back here. The only difference is a saying Alec Baldwin created, or at least summed up best: A.b.c. Always be closing."

"Um, excuse me," the trio of Peep leaders was suddenly interrupted… by a skinny, redheaded, white-faced worker girl, no less. "Christian, Maryse, Travis Tomko - Vickie Guerrero wants to see you in her office now."

"What? Vickie Guerrero's office? What the hell did we do to offend her?" Christian asked, obviously playing frustrated innocent.

"I think you dissed her about three times back there," Tomko pointed out.

"Shut up," Christian sharply ordered in self-defense. "Come on, guys let's go."

And with that, Christian led Maryse and the Problem Solver to Vickie Guerrero's office.

About a couple minutes or so later, Vickie and Big Show heard a knock from outside their door.

"Come in," Vickie invited, her voice obviously sounding less welcoming than intended as Christian, Maryse, and Tomko opened the door and entered.

"Vickie Guerrero, General Manager," Christian noted politely and extending his hand out as Vickie shook it. "Nice to finally meet ya. I'm Christian, by the way. Captain Charisma."

"Thanks, Christian, but I already know who you are," Vickie pointed out as the handshake broke. Big Show, next to her, started to break out in chuckles.

"Hey, Big Show. Nice job gettin' knocked out by that Floyd Money boxer guy at WrestleMania," Christian pointed out, to which Maryse and Tomko returned the favor of the chuckles.

"Can we get serious here?" Vickie demanded, her harsh request being met with a worldwide chorus of boos back at the arena. "Thank you. Now listen to me. Christian, I don't appreciate you disrespecting me out there in front of the WWE Universe on my show. But, I think we can agree that you and your new movement here can be very vital to my vision for Friday Night Smackdown. So in the best interest of this program, we can put aside your disparaging remarks towards me. Big Show and I will not be making your life here difficult - as long as you stay professionally loyal to our show and personally out of our way."

"First of all, Vickie, I don't care what your vision is," Christian outright stated to her face, leaving her somewhat taken aback. "But I do see where you're coming from as far as staying out of each other's way. As long as you guys hold up your end of the bargain, I think we can manage that."

"Good, so we have a deal," Vickie remarked.

"Yeah, sure, that's all well and good. However, there's still one more thing to cover," Big Show interjected his presence into the conversation. "See, I think we should see exactly what Maryse is really worth to this show. She's already lost in two straight Divas title opportunities against Michelle McCool. Besides, we kind of owe our dear old friend Teddy Long a little favor for what you used to put him through, Vickie. So I'm thinking, we call Teddy Long, and get Maryse and Michelle McCool back in that ring just one more time, except this time, it's non-title, and it's on ECW as a special showcase."

"ECW?" Maryse repeated in question form. Big Show simply nodded and gave her an "mm-hmm."

"There's a catch, isn't there?" Tomko instantly asked, having reason to be suspicious of this managerial office.

"Travis, there is absolutely no grand scheming wizard reason, no catch, and no stipulation to this," Big Show spoke in an assuring tone. "Even if we wanted to do something, Teddy Long wouldn't allow us to pull strings on his show, and if he wouldn't allow it, nor would the McMahons. I take it we've addressed everything we've needed to here, right?"

Christian and company then briefly looked at one another, then got into a huddle for a whispering discussion as they tried to figure out silently amongst themselves just how much credence they could put into what Vickie and Big Show were saying. Meanwhile, said figures in question were feeling kind of irritated, but they wouldn't let it show. After about twenty seconds or so, team Christian broke the huddle and turned to face the admins.

"Yeah, I think we're good here. Thanks," Christian finally turned to them and said, before leading the group in turning around and walking out.

"Pleasure doing business, guys," Show called to them nonchalantly as Tomko closed the door behind him. Guess they didn't get the rumor Christian heard on the way to their office about Chavo getting choked out by the Undertaker.

-

A/N: The rant on all the good guys and bad guys was originally a lot longer than what you see, and I chopped it down simply because even Christian was not _that all-extremely_ long winded. Seriously. Besides, I can use what I originally got for separate promos later on, so it's all good.

Oh, and by the way, this is the same Smackdown where Vickie Guerrero and Big Show trashed Eve in an interview and continuously replayed the beating Show gave the Undertaker at No Mercy, that Ryan Braddock guy got duct taped for moving by Jesse and Festus, which in this story, for time's sake, did not have valuable minutes to waste pretending to be a match, Jeff Hardy defeated The Brian Kendrick and R-Truth beat Shelton Benjamin, which in this story all happened in one tag team match, and - your pointless removed-from-events moment of the night - that Scotty Goldman kid (who in actuality is CM Punk's close friend Scott "Colt Cabana" Colton saddled with literally a joke of a gimmick) got picked apart by Khali.

Well, peeps, now I need some thoughts in the form of reviews. Can ya get some of those for me, please? Much obliged, everybody.

Pac.


	3. The Land of Extremely Biased Managers

_**State of Takeover: Cause That's How I Roll!**_ by Instant Classic Superstar Pac

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and this is not linked to any of my other stories.

Rating: T

Summary: Right as she declares unfinished business, Captain Charisma suddenly returns and is talking to her. The result is the first seed of a new Coalition set to turn the world upside down. (Christian, Maryse, Tomko, two others, and an eventual pairing.)

-

NOTE: First of all, glad I could make you happy, purplefeather. As for what Tomko is gonna do… I can't tell you I have design on every single thing he's gonna say and do right now, but what I can say is this: there's one particular event I have in mind that I think you may find absolutely hilarious. And before you ask the question… yes. In addition to being an Edgehead, a Peep, a Creature of the Night, a Randonite, a Morrison Follower, and a whole bunch of other things… yes. I am a Tomko Mark.

Oh, and to Jeff (Dragon and Sword Master); you sort of got some ideas right about what's to take place, but you're gonna have to take a good look at this in order to get a real clear eye on just what exactly is set to happen.

Before TheRealRenee reads chapter 2 and starts to ask me some questions, yes, it was hard to say that Edge, my favorite wrestler, bar none (with Undertaker, Randy Orton and Christian forming very close seconds), deserves to be in Hell. But in character, that was the fate he subjected himself to by even getting involved with Vickie in the first place. Sure, he's gonna be comin' out soon, but we're not even at that point yet in real life, let alone in this fic.

Now, without any further ado, let's roll.

**Chapter 3: The Land of Extreme(ly Biased Managers)**

_Event Date: Tuesday, September 23, 2008_

Location: Nationwide Arena, (and a hotel room somewhere in) Columbus, OH

Immediately at the very starting time of this ECW program, Christian, Maryse, and Travis Tomko were seen entering the arena with their travel bags in hand. They walked through the halls with an air of confidence about them, as if they knew for a fact that Maryse was going to rock and roll tonight. And if one had been with them over the past few days, one would certainly understand why. Ever since the announcement of that match that she was booked for, Maryse had been totally focused on getting herself in gear. She knew that Vickie Guerrero and Big Show had promised that there would be no catch, but considering what Big Show said about judging her worth to Smackdown based on this match, she didn't exactly trust that. So outside of the usual hair, wardrobe, and makeup attention in moderate fashion, the thing she clearly concerned herself with above all else was training and studying to get ready to beat what tar there actually is out of that walking stick Michelle McCool down to an unprecedented level tonight. Christian and especially Tomko had been thoroughly impressed.

As Captain Charisma, the Problem Solver, and the Sexiest of the Sexy finally found their way to Maryse's locker room, saying a few greetings to a few polite workers and Superstars along the way, Maryse opened the door before turning to her teammates.

"Can you guys wait here for me, please?" she requested, receiving notes of "Oh, sure," "No problem," and "Take your time," from Christian and Tomko. For a second, it sort of felt like the guys were deferring to her, but she dismissed that as she walked in with her bags and closed the door behind her.

"Think she's gonna do it this time?" Tomko then asked Christian, folding his arms up to his chest as they stood outside and waited for her as they promised.

"No doubt about it, man," Christian assured the big man. "She knows that this is our first big match, and I severely doubt she's gonna disappoint us now." He then patted Tomko's shoulder. "Trust me on this one."

"Excuse me for a second, playas," a voice sounded off right there. As the duo turned around, they saw none other than ECW General Manager Theodore Long, flanked oddly not by his assistant Tiffany, but by a horde of security.

"Teddy Long! It's been a long time, man! I see you finally got kicked off Smackdown!" Christian remarked wittily in front of the GM's face, making it clear he was not impressed with Long.

"Christian, Travis Tomko, I'm afraid the two of you have to leave," Teddy outright told them.

"What the hell are you talking about? Why do we have to go?" Christian asked as he and Tomko looked confused.

"Can't trust you back here, dawg, so you gotta get to steppin'," Teddy repeated, using gangsta talk this time. Maryse overheard some of this and decided to step out.

"Okay, what's going on here?" she asked, using the term loosely, with a stern eye on Teddy Long.

"Apparently, this guy over here either can't trust us or he can't take a joke," Tomko replied.

"Whoa… can't trust us? Teddy, what could we possibly have done by just coming here for you to say you can't trust us?"

Tomko asked as well as tried to pinpoint a reason for the "Gangsta Manager"'s position.

"I've seen y'all on Smackdown, and I know for a fact you three have got some shenanigans cooked up," Teddy continued, earning death glares from his three confronters. "You, Maryse, are stayin' here cause you've got a match tonight, but Christian and Tomko, y'all gotta go."

"You know, Teddy, that's the partisan crap I'm talking about right there. That's why I'm surprised you still have a job," Christian remarked immediately before turning to the Problem Solver. "Come on, Tomko, let's get outta here."

"Right, man. And Maryse: hope you kick ass tonight," Tomko said before turning around and following Christian, who was already walking out. Once they were out of reach enough, Maryse turned to Teddy.

"Just so you know, Teddy, I never liked you or Vickie Guerrero. They don't either," Maryse informed him.

"Oh, that's not what you told me back in Febriary now," Teddy retorted, to which Maryse scoffed in offense. "Besides, you got a match to worry about tonight. So don't you go worryin' about whether not you like me now." In response, Maryse didn't even say or display any sign of acknowledgement. She just turned around and went right back into her locker room.

A good 20 minutes or so later, it was match time, and Maryse's "Ooh Oui" theme song came on, and oddly enough, as she came walking straight down the ramp in her trademark cocky stride with her arms out midway through, she actually found herself instantly showered with cheers! These mostly subsided, but still some of it remained, as she got on the apron, entered through the middle rope, and did her sexy pose before walking along the ropes as usual. Giving a point towards somebody and smiling all the way, the Sexiest of the Sexy was actually quite appreciative of the fan support.

That same fan support came to Michelle McCool as well at the tune switched to "Not Enough For Me" and the All American Girl came out spinning, pumping her fists, and slapping fives with the front row again, before going to the right side apron, flaunting her long legs, coming and going on the turnbuckle to get right back to pumping fists and parading the Divas title around. Mercilessly, Maryse didn't have to stand through it much longer, as McCool's music faded out and the referee took the silver butterfly strap that was the WWE Divas Championship belt and got it out of the ring.

As the two ladies finally stood across the ring from one another, Maryse decided to send an insult to Michelle by taking off her ring jacket and throwing it at the Divas Champion.

As Michelle responded with a tackle and started punching away at Maryse, the bell rang. After a couple seconds, Maryse managed to roll over her, turning the tables, but Michelle quickly turned them right back and got back to punching Maryse. Eventually, Maryse managed to get McCool off er and get up, only to be speared and assaulted with right hands again. The referee did eventually pull Michelle off and admonish her, giving Maryse a short window to get up. McCool, though, took over immediately, with an angry knee to the gut, then a furious forearm shiver, before irishwhipping her and telegraphing a back body drop only to get kicked in the face. Maryse took a scond to pose, then tried to bounce off the ropes again, only to be met with a harsh kick to the gut, knocking her down. As she rolled to the outside for reguge, Michelle seized her up and tried to run at her for a baseball slide. Maryse, though, was able to run out of dodge as McCool landing on her feet on the outside, then turn around and get McCool with a quick clothesline.

She then picked up Michelle again and sent her back first into the security guardrail, before picking her up again and getting her into the ring. Maryse then got on the apron, doing a hair flick there, but not full-out posing, quickly getting back into the ring before taking Michelle up on her knees and slamming her back down face first. Maryse then walked around her downed opponent with her arms out and got back to the sexy posing once next to the ropes, but quickly regained her focus before Michelle could get up and kicked her in the back, before executing her rollover into a camel clutch. Locking the hold in tightly and painfully, Maryse eventually delivered a crossface punch in the middle of it, before Michelle managed to fight her way up and drive her hips into Maryse several times in order to get it out of it. However, not too long after that, Maryse was albe to grab her from behind, turn her around and pull her right into the second turnbuckle in a corner. Maryse then picked Michelle up, set her up in the corner, and start kicking her in the midsection using her left foot, before getting pulled off and admonished by the referee.

The Canadian Siren then tried to get back on Michelle, but ended up receiving an elbow to the jaw, which Michelle followed up by elevating herself using the ropes and putting her boots to Maryse's face for some distance. Michelle was then able to run at Maryse and hit her with a clothesline, then follow up as soon as Maryse got up with a one-footed dropkick. Maryse got up again, then was kicked in the midsection, allowing for Michelle to run off the ropes and get her with a quick front flip neck breaker, before covering Maryse and getting a two count ouf of it. Michelle then picked Maryse up, hit her with a couple of uppercuts, then went to irishwhip her into a corner. Maryse countered by doing it to her instead, then ran at her only to be knocked down by a boot extended up to her face. Michelle then went up top, only for Maryse to notice and make it backfire by throwing her off, Michelle's quite scrawny back being impacted hard by the fall onto the canvas. Maryse then gingerly picked up Michelle, placed her into a front facelock, and nailed her hair-flicking and devastating Sexy DDT, before nonchalantly covering the former schoolteacher and still getting the 1, 2, 3.

"Here is your winner, Maryse!"

As her theme music went on, Maryse got up as if she was presenting her handiwork, getting her arm raised in victory in the meantime, as the crowd reaction was actually one that reeked of sounding impressed. Maryse stayed in the ring, posing with her arms out and admiring her handiwork, as Michelle eventually came to and just looked dumbfounded at what just happened. Maryse then left the ring the same way she came; smiling, proud, and cocky. Not to mention inspired by the fact that the fans were not jeering her like crazy.

Meanwhile, as Jim Ross and Matt Striker spent a precious few minutea hyping up what so far was the card for the upcoming No Mercy pay-per-view in about 12 days, Christian and Travis Tomko were watching the show at Chrisian's room in the hotel nearest the arena, where they had checked in. They were both grinning and nodding their heads at just how good Maryse was.

"You see, Tomko? This is only a glimpse of what I saw when I took Maryse under my wing about two weeks ago," Christian noted as he and his big prodigy turned to one another. "That right there is why I picked her up."

"And believe me; you did a fine job, man. I knew she was good, but I didn't know she was capable of bein' _that_ good," Tomko agreed, letting out a truly impressed smile. "You were seriously onto something there, C." Christian then let out a contented laugh.

"Yeah, exactly. But like I said, it was only a glimpse. You see, Maryse, as amazing as this sounds, she still needs a lot of work," Christian then remarked, which actually startled Tomko a bit. "She needs to really remember that this is wrestling, not 'Sex and the City on the Runway' or something. By the way, what happened with the money?"

"Don't worry, man, I paid it in full. All your tapes are accounted for," Tomko assured him.

"Thanks a lot, man. I owe you one," Christian replied in kind.

"Please, just don't remind me of you owing me anything," Tomko quickly responded, putting his arms up for emphasis. He remembered full well the broken title shot promise from elsewhere about a year or so back.

So did Christian, apparently, because he shut up about it with the small exception of admitting Tomko was right by simply sighing and saying "Right," under his breath.

In the back, off camera, Maryse was walking through the halls backstage, when suddenly somebody called her name. She stopped instantly to look to her left and saw the Miz walking towards her with her ring jacket in his hands.

"What are you doing with my jacket?" she then demanded with a scoff, before snatching it back from him with a sharp order of "Gimme that!"

"Uh, that's actually what I came here to do," Miz then told her, which actually took her aback a bit. "By the way, that was a pretty sweet match back there."

"Thanks. Speaking of matches, though, don't you have one against John Morrison tonight?" Maryse reminded him, having taken note of what Teddy Long booked immediately after ejecting Christian and Tomko from the arena.

"Don't even remind me. Please. This whole situation just stinks," Miz lamented, obviously affected by having to face his tag team partner and best friend in a complete loss-loss situation tonight. "Not only do Johnny and I have to fight each other in the ring, whichever one of us wins is gonna be fed to Ricky Ortiz so he can pick the scraps and act like he did something. And those fans out there are just gonna relish in it."

"I wouldn't blame the fans. I'd blame Teddy Long," Maryse corrected him. "Christian was right. What a terrible biased pig."

"You got that right. One minute he's scolding Edge for using Money in the Bank, the next he gives that idiot Ortiz the same kind of free win over one of the longest reigning tag team champions in recent history? Come on!" Miz remarked as he was getting hot under the collar.

"I know. He's a complete hypocrite," Maryse repeated indignantly. "Anyway, I better go. Christian and Tomko are probably waiting to call me."

"Yeah, go right ahead. I'll talk to ya later," Miz allowed, not sounding too good about it.

"Sure, whenever 'later' is," she retorted. As he looked at her confused, she added a "Bye!" and walked off.

"See ya!" he called right back, as she was about five steps off. Maryse made no sign that she paid it any mind.

Back in the hotel, later on in the night, Christian and Tomko continued to watch the show attentively, ironically the very match that the Miz and John Morrison were in. Particularly, Christian was already a little perturbed the second he heard announcer Tony Chimel say "and the winner will face Ricky Ortiz" while introducing the Miz to the ring. Studying this match attentively, Christian noticed that Johnny and the Miz were going tentatively for the first minute or so, before finally turning up the intensity against one another. One thing Christian and Tomko paid close attention to was when Jim Ross explained that the Dirt Sheet duo were in this match because they offended the General Manager, and as soon as this match was over, Ricky Ortiz would be coming down to take on the winner. Now fully aware of the circumstances surrounding how the winner will face Ricky Ortiz, neither Christian nor Tomko was very pleased. Tomko found himself pacing and running a hand down his face, while Christian looked up and gave a harsh puff of frustration, officially sickened of Teddy Long at that instant.

Later on in the match itself, Miz was wrenching Johnny as he had him in a headlock, but Johnny managed to fight his way up and double-forearm his way out of it, before irishwhipping Miz, catching him immediately with a knee to the gut, and setting him up for that finishing corkscrew neck breaker, the Moonlight Drive. Miz, though, was able to spin out of harm's way, then went for a clothesline and ended up being dragged by Johnny throat first into the middle rope. Seeing the opportunity, the Shaman of Sexy instantly went for a schoolboy rollup and even put his feet on the ropes for leverage. Referee Mike Posey, the same ref that officiated Maryse and Michelle's match, caught Morrison with his hand in the cookie jar and admonished him, forcing him to get off Miz. Speaking of Miz, he got up and hit Johnny with a hard left forearm knocking him back into the ropes. Morrison, though, got out of the ropes, knees Miz in the gut, then clubbed him in the back, laying off for a second or so after that, which was a mistake, as Miz was able to deal in a knee and several lefts. As Morrison went down to his knees, Miz tried to run off the ropes and attempt a clothesline, which Johnny ducked, used to hook his arm, then took him off balance with an STO backbreaker, followed up by a Russian leg sweep. Morrison then covered Miz. 1, 2, Miz kicked out.

Johnny quickly got up and started stalking away at Miz, running at him for a clothesline as soon as he got up. Unfortunately for Morrison, Miz was also able to catch his arm and catch him in an inverted direction STO. Miz then sook a little while to get up, both recollecting himself and timing when Johnny would start to get up. As soon as the latter did start to stir, the former ran off the ropes and tried to hit him with a running knee lift, only for Johnny to pull Miz's legs out from under him and cause him to land on his back. Johnny then ran off the ropes and kneed the sitting-up Miz's face, knocking him on his back and prone for Morrison's cover. The Chick Magnet managed to kick out after two. After briefly complaining to the referee, Johnny tried to get back on the Miz, but Miz was already up and executed a flapjack on Morrison which ended in Johnny bouncing off the top rope by the throat onto the canvas. Miz then jump on and off the ropes and hit a springboard turnaround leg drop on his buddy, before covering him and ending up with a two-count as Johnny kicked out. Miz then took Morrison and rammed him headfirst into the corner, then set him up on the top turnbuckle and went up after him,and Johnny slowed him down with a couple rights to the back, leading to an exchange of punches after which Miz turned around and repositioned himself, trying to hold on to Johnny 's head and get in a super bulldog only for the both of them to end up badly falling off and being laid out.

As the both of them laid down on the mat, referee Mike Posey began his last-man-standing count. They both were able to move around a little bit, but especially with the speed of Posey's count, neither superstar was able to answer the ten-count. As fans started to boo at the result of the match, suddenly Ricky Ortiz's theme song came on and he ran down the ramp and quickly slid into the ring, running off the ropes and executing his "Big O" body splash on Miz. Meanwhile, Johnny was able to get up and at least try for a clothesline,, but Ortiz ducked it, ran off the ropes, and hit Johnny with a diving shoulder tackle. He then got up, ran off the ropes, and did the Big O again, before quickly dashing out of the ring, looking like a hyper hyena or some kind of monkey the entire time.

Christian and Tomko didn't even need to pay attention as Ortiz's music ran again and he took his "Ricky O Rally Towel" out of his pocket and started waving it around, then spotted some hot girl in the crowd up the ramp and got her to kiss him on the cheek. As a matter of fact, they didn't even see that, cause Christian turned off the TV right away.

"Tomko, can you help me out here? What the hell was that?" Christian asked the Problem Solver, who simply sighed shook his head. "Seriously, you gotta be kiddin' me. What the hell kind of a way was that to end the show? That was cheaper than when Edge used that Money in the Bank shot on the Undertaker on Smackdown."

"Actually, it was kinda the same thing," Tomko replied.

"Except there's two key differences. Ricky's a nobody, and he's too stupid to realize that he actually didn't even get squat outta that. Hell, I don't even think it put one more dollar in his paycheck, that's how stupid it was," Christian remarked, not sugarcoating anything about his displeasure for Long.

"You never know, man. The way Teddy is, that probably did put extra money in his paycheck," Tomko pointed out, after which Christian sharply turned his way.

"Then it's time we do something about it," Christian declared in a pretty determined sound, even for Captain Charisma himself.

"What are you talking about? How are we gonna do anything about ECW?" Tomko questioned him, completely uncertain what he was thinking of doing but still knowing the Show Stealer long enough to figure something had to be brewing in his head.

"Where there's Christian, there's a royal flush waiting and ready to be pulled outta my pocket. Trust me. I got a plan," Christian disclosed, as Tomko let out another sigh. Back to Christian playing the brains again.

"Care to fill me in?" Tomko then asked, resigning himself to that particular factor about their union as well as curious

"I want Miz and Morrison in that ring on Smackdown," was the start of the answer that came from Captain Charisma. "And I know just how to get that. Specifically, I know just what phone call to make in order to get that." He then turned to Tomko and tapped the big man's chest with the back of his hand. "Come on, T-Squared. Let's head out front. Maryse is probably waitin' for us by now," he reasoned as he started walking the way of the door.

"Right," Tomko seconded, folowing Christian to the door as the smaller man opened it, both walked past it, and the big guy closed it behind him, vacating Christian's hotel room until Christian was ready to go to bed later that night.

-

A/N: Speaking of going to bed, I did that right after finishing this chapter. I would hope that conversely, you guys aren't too tired to enrich me with some reviews , right? Lookin' forward to the takes, peeps.

-Pac.


	4. Ringing in a New Dawn

_**State of Takeover: Cause That's How I Roll!**_ by Instant Classic Superstar Pac

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and this is not linked to any of my other stories.

Rating: T

Summary: Right as she declares unfinished business, Captain Charisma suddenly returns and is talking to her. The result is the first seed of a new Coalition set to turn the world upside down. (Christian, Maryse, Tomko, two others, and an eventual pairing.)

-

NOTE: My apologies for the lateness of this chapter. But I assure you, everybody, the wait was well worth it. Wanna see why? Just take a close look.

**Chapter 4: Ringing in a New Dawn**

_Event Date: Friday, September 26, 2008_

Location: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH

It was around 4:30 in the afternoon, when a red 1995 Chevrolet Impala SS pulled up into the Nationwide Arena parking lot and its engine stopped. Both front doors and the right back door opened up, and Christiain, Travis Tomko, and Maryse all got out of the car, closing their doors behind them as Christian used the keys to completely lock the car. Christian then tossed the keys to Tomko as the three of them walked over to the thunk, and the Problem Solver used the key to open it. The trio then lifted the trunk up and instantly, Christian saw something that bothered him a little.

"Tomko, come on! How many times do I have to tell you? It's my bag that goes on top! My bag, not yours!" Christian childishly whined, his grudge being the fact that Tomko's travel bag was on top of both his and Maryse's.

"Hey- dude- relax. At least I didn't put Maryse's back on top o' ours," Tomko pointed out. The reason why that one effectively shut the captain up was that while Tomko and Christian traveled with sports and duffel bags, Maryse kept her things in a hard plastic rolling suitcase. Christian had a couple of CDs in his suitcase which, if Maryse put enough stuff in hers, could've easily broken under the pressure during the drive here. On that note, Tom finally picked up his bag and wore it on his shoulder, allowing for Maryse to pull her suitcase and get it down without much effort and for Christian to pick up his bag. Tomko then closed the door and used his keys to lock it.

"You sure you got everything, Maryse? Your case a little light," Christian pointed out.

"Yes, _boss_. Unlike some people, I don't need to carry my entire wardrobe every night," Maryse remarked cleverly.

"Come on, guys, let's just go," Tomko interjected, trying to hurry things along - but before they could really get anywhere in walking, Eve Torres and a camera were running up to them again.

"Hey! Hold on a second!" Eve called to them as she was running and trying to catch up. The trio turned around, and Christian specifically did not look too pleased.

"Eve, hold on a second. Before you ask me anything, I just wanna know something right quick… did you really use to date Reggie Bush?" Christian decided to ask her, to which she just scoffed. He persisted, however. "If you're not willing to answer that, why should I answer your question?"

"Okay, fine. I did use to date Rgggie Bush," Eve disclosed irritably. "Noq can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, sure thing, go ahead," Christian replied, true to his word.

"Okay. Tonight, you and your 'Problem Solver' Travis Tomko will be competing in what for both of you will be your first match back in a WWE ring against former WWE Tag Team Champions, ECW's John Morrison and the Miz. First of all, the rumor is that you really ask for this match? And if so, why, or if not, what do you guys think about being in this match?"

"You know what, Eve? We're sick and tired of being asked a bunch of stupid questions that are either already gonna be answered tonight or should already be obvious. But just because you weren't afraid to be candid yourself, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and I'll answer this one for ya," Tomko remarked, stepping up in response. "Yes. We did ask for the match against John Morrison and the Miz. Not only did we ask, we had to pull a couple strings with some higher ups in order to get it. Now why did we pick such a good tag team like them to make our opponents? Simple. We wanna prove a point, and we want everybody to know just how powerful this unit really is." Christian broke into a confident laugh.

"D'ya hear that?" he then started talking to Eve. "Did you hear what Tomko just said? What he just said… should give you all the answers you're looking for." Walking up a few steps, then looking back to Tomko and Maryse, he then instructed, "Come on, peeps, let's go!"

And Christian's crew followed on behind him to head into the arena.

An hour and a half or so, after they were settled inside, the trio decided to split up across the arena. Part of this meantime included Christian having a little catch-up conversation with R-Truth, who actually reappeared on Smackdown a little earlier than Christian.

"Hey, you remember back when you and Road Dogg were stepping up in front of Debra, back when she used to be here and you were called K-Kwik-"

"You still remember dat?" R-Truth asked, a little surprised at how far back Christian's memory reached.

"Yeah, and then Edge and I came over there and Edge started talking about how you guys never got a tag team title and we had three yet we weren't being considered for the tag team title picture?" Christian continued nonetheless.

"Then y'all got a match against us, and y'all tried to rap, but y'all just sounded so wack-"

"Actually, we were pretty good," Christian cut in, paying Truth back for his earlier interruption. "As a matter of fact, we kicked your asses. We went on to win four more tag team titles. How many times did ya get those again, huh? Oh, wait a minute… you didn't. You didn't get a tag team title, you had to settle for that low entertainment cheap belt they call the Hardcore title, didn't ya?"

"You know what, Christian? How 'bout I remind you that-"

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I get it!" Christian continued reveling in all this as he cut off R-Truth again. "You didn't win any title last time you were here!"

"Actually, dawg, I won that belt twice when I was here last," R-Truth reminded Christian. "I think I remember beatin' Raven both times. You remember Raven, right?"

"Yeah, and let me guess: you lost it to Crash, God rest his soul, the same night. Both times. Right?" Christian contended.

"A'ight, fair 'nough. Ya got me," Truth admitted. "But I almost whipped yo' ass a couple years later."

"A couple years later? You serious?" Christian questioned.

"Yeah, you got a problem?" Truth challenged back.

"No, not a problem, except, uh… I didn't know six years counted as a couple. And the night you're talking about? I still beat ya," Christian pointed out, seriously putting a dent in any wrestling based argument Truth could come up with in his superiority banter.

Meanwhile, as this was happening, Maryse was already at the grooming table, where Jen the makeup lady was adding some finishing touches to Maryse's face. Finally, after taking what felt like hours to Maryse, though it probably did take about an hour due to how bossy and insistent on perfection the Artist of Sexiness herself was about making sure she was perfectly made up, Jen finally proclaimed that she was done.

"Well, it's about time," Maryse arrogantly replied, not even showing a ounce of appreciation to Jen for a job well done.

"Yeah, I guess it is. Admire yourself all you want, Maryse, I'm going to the bathroom," Jen then remarked, before walking away. Maryse scoffed in annoyance, having deemed this woman beneath her a long time ago, before picking up the small mirror and taking a look at her face. But before she could choose whether or not to admire Jen's handiwork as a job well done…

"Hey, Maryse!" she heard someone calling to her. Turning around, she had to laugh at what she saw. Maria - of all people, _Maria_, and in a short little mini dress, too - was actually walking up and trying to talk to her for something. In the middle of her laughing, Maryse managed to get herself to stand up and stop briefly.

"What? What's so funny?" Maria asked, causing Maryse to break into another short burst of laughter, sighing contentedly

"Okay, Maria, what do you want?" the blonde finally asked.

"Okay. First of all, why were you laughing?" Maria had to ask. This drove Maryse into yet another fit of laughter.

"I can't believe it," Maryse struggled to say through far from subtle giggles. "You're actually coming to me!" Of course, she continued to laugh, but in due time, her laughter subsided at the same time as Maria's pout grew more and more angry, despite the fact that she couldn't care less how angry the Radiant Redhead had gotten by now. "Okay, but seriously. What do you want?"

"Hey, I was just coming over to talk to you about Christian-"

"_Tais toi_," Maryse immediately interrupted, making it clear via a hand to Maria's face that she had just told Maria to shut up in French. "Okay? Right there, you must shut up. What I do in my spare time with Christian and Travis is none of your business."

"What you do with them in your spare time, huh?"

"Again; shut up. Before you get any ideas about what kind of gossip you're going to spread to your girly little friends Eve and Michelle and Bella, Christian and Tomko are both married, okay?" Maryse clarified in trademark prompt snide fashion. "They both have something Americans like you and French Canadians like ma call **wives**. Something that you are way too loose to ever be."

"I'm too loose? You've never even had a boyfriend," Maryse indignantly retort.

"Correction: no _boyfriend_ has ever had _me_," Maryse corrected her, before stopping and thinking back on it. "…okay, fine. Maybe there's been one or two boyfriends. But that was before I became what I am today, and even back then I was never taken advantage of. You, on the other hand, you have been wined and dined and denied more than anyone I ever heard of."

"What the hell are you talking about? Tell me. Now," Maria daringly demanded, as foolish as that was. Foolish, that is, because Maryse was totally on point about it.

"Okay, I will. Despite you talking about it as soon as one picture came out, CM Punk never took your relationship to television before he dumped you."

"He did not dump me. We broke it off mutually, and we're still friends," Maria corrected her.

"Somehow, I don't believe that. See, you have been seduced and lured in by the ultimate manbearpig of all WWE, Batista," Maryse accused matter-of-factly.

"Maryse, I wasn't seduced! He was a gentleman the whole time!" Maria insisted, though obviously once again that did her more harm than good.

"No, Maria, he was not a gentleman. He was suave and all dressed up like he was supposed to be some sophisticated caveman," Maryse informed her in earnest. "Besides, it was never even brought up in public. You could have denied it. I don't know if it's shame or a clue, but certainly you are lacking something." All this, and yet she was sure it would go through the ears: in one, out the other. Elsewhere…

"Dude, are you sure she doesn't dig me?" the Miz was asking John Morrison as they hung out somewhere in the back.

"Yeah, Miz- look, not every single girl on this planet is going to fawn over any single one person. If that were the case, I'd have everybody screaming my name and Melina would've never left me," Johnny replied, even being casual about the subject of his ex-girlfriend. "Seriously, I've learned to face the facts. No one can be perfect." At the same time, unbeknownst to them, Tomko was walking through the neighborhood and became interested in their little discussion, slowly approaching them.

"But Johnny, I had a perfect record, bro!" Miz continued to complain. "This whole time I've run around as the Chick Magnet that I know I am, no girl has ever turned me down!"

"Well, then it was destined to happen sometime," Johnny deadpanned.

"Yeah, man, it was bound to happen eventually. Just because you got on reality TV shows doesn't mean you can't have missed spots. Now who are you guys talking about again?" Tomko suddenly spoke from behind, startling the Dirt Sheet duo.

"I think you may know full well who we're talking about. She happens to be a part of yours and Christian's little gang," Morrison contended, to which Tomko chuckled and broke out into a grin.

"What? What's so funny?" Miz questioned, getting irritated at Tomko's tone.

"Somehow, Miz, I am just not surprised," Tomko replied bluntly.

"Not surprised? What are you-"

"No, just stop it. Stop it right there, now let me tell you something," Tomko replied. "First of all, this is far from your first time. Christian keeps me informed, he tells me about this. Let's look at the members of your Extreme Exposé. First, there's Layla El. Before she became part of your personal escort service, she teased and played and tricked you into getting a lap dance from that losert big fat oily guy, on a pay-per-view, on your birthday. Then there's Kelly Kelly. While in your troupe, she tried to leave you high and dry to the point where you had to threaten her about a contract, and all for, of all people, Balls Mahoney. That had to be embarrassing." As he spoke on, he could see the anger and embarrassment building on Miz's face. Making it obvious that this was what he wanted, he kept on going. "_Then _there's the third one. Brooke Adams. When she got cut, she didn't even call you back. She took her modeling career and ran."

"What the hell is your point!?" Miz demanded, thinking he was a tough guy bowing up to Tomko.

"Do me a favor and get out of my face before I knock you out right here," Tomko warned him.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Johnny finally interjected, pulling Miz back and looking straight at Tomko. "We don't need to knock people out all over the place. And aren't you and Christian our opponents tonight?"

"Yeah, but I'm trying to make a good point here, so you might wanna listen," Tomko explained, before turning back to Miz. "Now, my point here, _Mike_, is that instead of focusing on being a wrestler and getting serious, which if you were you could easily have won the ECW title by now just like your boy Johnny here, you're more busy worrying about your little Chick Magnet handle. It's the exact same thing as Maryse, except your arrogance ends up costing you at critical times. This is World _Wrestling_ Entertainment. You're here to _wrestle_. You have a better chance of being memorable if you create a legacy based on how well you _wrestle_. Being hard party, hard candy material is fun and all, but unless you get serious in the ring, it's gonna fade quickly and everybody, including all these girls that flock to you, they're gonna forget all about you." And with that, he started to walk away.

"Hold it!" Miz shot, practically commanded, after Tomko took a few steps. The Problem Solver followed accordingly, simply so he could hear what Miz had to say. "Back even before my Real World season, I was running around with a toy championship belt. I had a dream that I was gonna take an unconventional route exclusive to the Miz in order to make it here, to be a WWE Superstar. See, when I was on those reality shows you talk about, I wasn't just picking up chicks. I went through excruciating Real World/Road Rules challenges. I went through Fear Factor. All of that required toughness. I came here through the Million Dollar Tough Enough challenge! I didn't win, but I impressed Vince McMahon enough to get a less lucrative contract.

"I worked my way up. I came here to Smackdown. That Network guy, Palmer Canon, kicked me out and got me pulled for a few weeks, then I came back again! And people thought I was a punk. JBL, for example, didn't think I'd last anymore than three weeks. Yet here I am, standing as one half of the greatest tag team WWE has seen since your very boys themselves, Edge and Christian!" At this point, he was growing a bass in his voice and stepping up to Tomko, who still had his back turned. "How dare you tell me that I don't have any focus, that I don't have a passion for wrestling! Everything I ever did has brought me HERE! In this company! In a successful tag team!" He then went around Tomko to face the front of him. "**In your face!**" And just as quickly, that ended, as Tomko suddenly picked Miz up by his shirt and pinned him against the wall nearby.

"You do **not** wanna get into a fight with me right now!" Tomko shouted at Miz.

"Hey, man, get off him!" Johnny yelled out, running up to them.

"Shut up! I'm trying to prove a point!" Tomko shouted back at him before turning to Miz again and letting go of the kid, letting him fall to his knees. "Think about what you just said, and come out tonight ready and willing to kick my ass. If you can't do that, Miz, I don't care what you say - **you can't wrestle!**" Then he actually added the icing on the cake - he slapped Miz right in the face and started to walk away!

Miz, of course, was agitated beyond control, instantly getting right up and attempting to lunge after Tomko, only to be held back by Morrison.

"You better come back here, you big dumb idiot! I may be the Grand Mizard of Lust, but that doesn't mean I can't be the Grand Mizard of Knocking You On Your Ass!" Miz shouted angrily as he continued to try and wriggle fee from Morrison's restraining arms. "You're lucky Johnny's holding me back, or I'd have you on your way to a hospital right now!" Then he started getting frustrated about it. "John, quit holding me back! I gotta kill this guy!"

"No way, man! Save it for the match!" Johnny tried to advise him. And Tomko was just grinning the whole time as he was walking away.

Back to Maryse's discussion with Maria…

"Maybe you weren't watching the same Raw I remember, because Santino didn't dump me. I dumped him," Maria recalled, as now their little conversation had turned the way of Santino Marella - the one Maria relationship that did make it to television.

"You're the one who was so loose, and worse yet, dense, that you couldn't even be trusted in the nude in front of other guys for a Playboy photo shoot. You may have chosen Playboy over him, but he made the judgment call. He dumped you," Maryse explained. "I never heard anything about Santino being ashamed of himself after you chose Playboy. You didn't dump him. You let him dump you. It's just you're too stupid to get it." And Maria gasped in shock.

"Do you see me crying for Santino to come back either? No. You don't," Maria responded, actually surprising Maryse. "I don't really care who you think dumped who, because that's all in the past now. I'm sure that between Santino and I, both of us think we dumped each other. But that doesn't matter. He's with Beth Phoenix, and even though I'm not with anybody right now, I'm still perfectly happy."

"Yes, you are perfectly happy. Every time you design clothes where you steal Christian's hood and think that you'll be able to impress him, clearly that means you are perfectly happy," Maryse repeated sarcastically.

"Hey, hold on a second. I think people have heard enough Diva snipping," Tomko suddenly said from behind Maryse, causing both her and Maria to turn and look at him.

"Hi Tomko!" Maria greeted with a cheery smile and a wave. Tomko merely waved back, barely acknowledging her otherwise as he turned back to Maryse.

"So, did you give them the message?" Maryse asked the big guy.

"Yep. I think they heard it loud and clear," Tomko replied with a confident nod.

"Okay. Let's go find Christian," Maryse suggested, before turning to Maria. "Oh, and I'll be finishing this little chat with you later."

"Don't hold your breath, but if you can find me, okay," Maria sort of semi-agreed. Maryse's only reply was a simple "right".

"Come on, Maryse, let's get outta here. Oh, and nice to see ya, Maria," Tomko said, as he and Maryse turned around and walked away.

"You would think Christian and Tomko would teach her some manners…" Maria muttered to herself as she went in the opposite direction. Speaking of Christian…

"Naw, but you see, it ain't gon' happen like that," Truth was saying.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, hold on a second. I actually agree with you on that one," Christian responded, stopping the subject of whatever they were talkig about as he noticed someone approaching.

"Hey, R, you might wanna look behind you and see who just popped in," Christian suggested, pointing behind R-Truth. Finally, as the seriously dark Suntan Superman turned around, United States Champion "the Gold Standard" Shelton Benjamin was standing right in front of him.

"What's up, dawg?" Truth asked Shelton casually, to which he immediately put on a scowl.

"First of all, R-Truth, I'm not your 'dawg'. And Christian, you better step the hell out of this before I strike you with Paydirt," Shelton warned, Christian putting his arms up and backing up a few feet as a sign of backing off. Not because he was afraid of anybody, but because this was seriously none of his business and he didn't want to be running interference in people's business just yet.

"Now," Shelton continued looking straight at R-Truth, "you. You come barging into Smackdown with your hooligan haircut, your raspy ghetto drawl, your sagging pants with your name in a stret font, your rap routine, your darker skin than Akon… you know what, just tell me this. What the hell can you bring to the table that you didn't get from jail, chump?" After hearing this question posed, R-Truth simple shook his head and threw his arms up.

"You see, Shelton, that's just your problem, man. You need to just relax! Take a chill pill and enjoy yourself, dawg!" Truth answered, kindly trying to reason with Benjamin.

"Dawg?" Shelton then repeated unfondly. "_Dawg!?_ First of all, R-Truth, 'homey', I just wanna let you know that I'm not your 'dawg'. Second of all, I'm just gonna tell you what I think about you. See, I don't know if you udnrestand this word or not, but you, sir, are an embarrassment."

"An embarrassment?" Truth repeated questioningly as Christian simply turned around and walked away from the discussion.

"Yeah, that's right! I said it! You're nothing but an embarrassment to all black people everywhere! Your shtick, your act, whole entire charade is predicated on celebrating the ghetto!" Shelton shouted seriously.

"Hey, you learn how to go through problems in the ghetto! That's where I came up from!" Truth vehemently countered.

"Yeah!? Well, if every single black man alive today learned how to 'handle their lightweights' with guns and violence, not only would there not be a black man running for President, we would've had race relations set back 500 years!" And eventually, as this argument went on, so did Christian's walking, until finally he had turned around and the heated debate festivities were out of his earshot range. However, at the same time, there was a certain twosome coming into his earshot range.

"Wow, you really must have pissed him off," a certain feminine accented voice could be heard saying as the shadows of two figures started appearing on the wall.

"Well, that was pretty much the plan," an even more familiar masculine voice stated, before the two of them could be heard laughing.

"Hey, guys!" Christian called as he recognizing the two voices as those of Maryse and Tomko, running over to meet them in the hallway. "You sent the message?" he then asked Tomko as soon as they met up.

"Yep. Perfectly, loud and clear," Tomko reported.

"Terrific, man. Hey, whaddya say we all go grab a bite to eat and then come back here?" Christian suggested,.

"Sure, no problem," Maryse nonchalantly accorded.

"Sounds like a plan," Tomko agreed less tentatively. Christian already started walking. And they already started following.

"Great. But by the way, can we pick somewhere that's kinda cool and relaxed and stuff? Cause Maryse, I want me and Tomko to be able to tell you about a few of our adventures with our past peeps…"

Much later on, into the night, specifically on Friday Night Smackdown, at around 8:57 or so, long after they'd already gotten back into the building, the gang would soon find that they were not going to be allowed unadulterated peace before the match of Christian and Tomko against Miz and Morrison. Why? Because they were scheduled at that time for an interview with Eve Torres.

"Christian, Travis Tomko, tonight you two officially enter your first match back in WWE when you take on former tag team champions John Morrison and the Miz. What are your thoughts on what should be quite the challenge for the two of you?" Eve asked them. Christian actually took a small pause before answering her question.

"Are you done?" was the return question that came out of that pause.

"Uh… are you gonna answer my question?" Eve asked right back, trying to get a little defiantly witty.

"Wow, so you actually do have some spice to ya. Cute. But you know, you look like you should be chock full of energy in the first place. So as long as you're still gonna be interviewing people as opposed to giving yourself something to be interviewed about… at least try to work on that personality o' yours so you're not just some looker with a microphone and a bunch o' stupid questions," Christian finally replied without a question, though this left Eve gob smacked for a little while. "But back to business! Back to business. You asked me a decent question, you asked… what are our thoughts on being challenged by John Morrison and the Miz. Maybe you need to, um… read between the lines and try to figure it out. We asked for this match. Specifically, I asked for this match. Yeah, that's right, I called Shane McMahon and I asked him to get Vickie Guerrero to book the match for us."

"But why? You're just coming back from a three-year exile and already you're trying to face the longest reigning tag team champions in recent history?" Eve asked, pretty much repeating Johnny and the Miz's Dirt Sheet tagline.

"Exile? What are you talk… you know what? Don't even answer that. Why did we ask for this? Real simple. We got a point to prove to Morrison, to Miz, to everybody on Smackdown, to the entire WWE, and we are ready to go out there and prove that point," Tomko jumped in front of Christian to proclaim.

"Speaking of proving a point, an arena surveillance camera shows that earlier today in the back, you, Tomko, actually put your hands on and attacked the Miz earlier tonight. Let's see the footage," Eve requested.

In response, the Smackdown production crew played footage caught up high from said surveillance camera, specifically Tomko grabbing Miz and pinning him to the wall, then turning around as Johnny approached and verbally warding him off while blatantly dropping Miz, berating the kid, then reaching down to slap him before walking away.

As the feed returned to the live scene of the interview, fans could actually be heard cheering for this.

"Tomko, what the heck were you thinking?" Eve then questioned him, to which Christian smirked.

"You really want a scoop that badly, don't you?" Tomko returned the favor, Eve taken aback. "You want a crazy story, something you can write home and interview Christian about, don't you? Well, make sure you get yourself a pen and a clipboard like that Mike Adamle guy on Raw and pay close attention to what happens here tonight." And with that, Tomko and Christian finally walked off. Maryse then came up to Eve and flicked a bit of the former USC cheerleader's hair back, throwing on a smile before she left to follow the men off.

Some 15 minutes or so later, John Morrison's theme song "Ain't No Make Believe" suddenly came on for the Morrison and Miz vs. Christian and Tomko matchup. Coming out dressed to be fly and then compete as usual, Miz and Johnny both struck their high arm poses welcomed by the slo-mo graphic on Smackdown, but after walking down the ramp, they both just slid into the ring rather than use the steel steps (Morrison) or simply go on the apron (Miz) and cross the ropes as usual. Johnny then went on the near right turnbuckle, Miz on the far right one, and they both began to strike their poses again, only for their music to fade out on them prematurely and switch just as prematurely go into "Just Close Your Eyes", exploding the crowd in cheers. However, as Christian and Travis Tomko came out along with Maryse, there was something gapingly obvious. Maryse was not the only one in street clothes: all three of them were. Oh, and Christian had a microphone in hand.

"Hold on, hold on a minute here, wait just a second," Christian began on the mike, instantly stopping the music and raising the questions. "Well, if it isn't the Shaman of Sexy and the Chick Magnet, the Palace of Wisdom duo, John Morrison and the Miz themselves. Looks to me like we've just stumbled across the longest reigning WWE tag team champions since the guys that beat you for it, Morrison, back when you were running around in MNM." By this point, both Morrison and Miz had picked up microphones.

"Congratulations: you know who we are. Now if you could please explain to me what you're doing in street clothes, or is it that you got cold feet and decided to worm your way out of this match?" John Morrison daringly asked the popular duo on the stage.

"You know, John, for all your talent, you don't seem to be exercising a ton o' common sense right now," Christian replied, actually getting cheers for this one. "The one thing you've already started to fail to understand is that I didn't get the nickname of Captain Charisma from being an idiot. Only a guy like me can read into his wife thinking a handle is ridiculous and automatically see money and a connection with his peeps. You see, I'm just that smart. I'm just that big a visionary. And when I requested this match, I had a vision. And as you can tell, from the fact that Tomko and I are still in street clothes, that vision never entailed that we would actually wrestle a match tonight." And here came the disappointed groans and cheers from the fans.

"Hey! Hey, Christian! We're not gonna allow you to duck on us tonight!" Miz shouted into the mike, actually getting cheered for once. "After the way that your boy Tomko came into my face, embarrassed me in front of my partner, and pissed me off!?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Christian then asked Miz.

"Well, since he's obviously too stupid to keep you informed, I'm just gonna tell you the full story of that attack you saw from surveillance footage," Miz remarked, Tomko showing off a momentary scowl of acknowledgement. "See, earlier today, in the back, while I was talking to Johnny about a conversation I had with Maryse back on Tuesday night, Tomko came up to my face and dared to insinuate that chicks don't dig me, then he questioned my focus and my dedication to doing my thing in the ring! Then he frickin' picked me up, pinned me to a wall and dropped me like a bad habit! And if you think I'm gonna stand for that-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on a second! Tomko!" Christian vehemently interrupted, snapping Tomko's way as he exclaimed the big man's name. "Please tell me you didn't do what he just said you did!"

"Uh, actually, let me be truthful with ya: yes," Tomko replied, resulting in an audience full of cheers again as Christian stood there apparently frozen in shock. But after a few seconds, he slowly broke into a sly grin, before turning straight to Miz and Morrison again.

"Need I remind you again about who you're talking to?" Christian then asked Miz, to which the Chick Magnet replied with a frustrated puff. "The fact is, we requested this so-called 'match' because we wanted to get a hold of you in this ring. And as far as Tomko bullying you around in the back? After hearing about the conversation you tried to have with Maryse off camera back on Tuesday night, I actually sent him there to piss you off to see what kind of a pulse you have! And seeing as how you're still clamoring and begging to get Tomko in the ring, I'd have to say I'm actually impressed."

"You're impressed? Well, you should be!" Morrison then declared. "We are the longest reigning tag team champions you have ever seen in a long, long time!"

"Sorry to break it to ya, Johnny, but E-V-E already told us that," Christian informed him. Now, instead of skirtin' around the issue, I think it would best serve us all if I could finally get to the point. You see, while Tomko and I were watching ECW, we noticed two things. One: how much ass Maryse kicked even while she still occasionally lost her focus. Two: the way the two of you were completely disrespected and totally abused by that biased idiot George Jefferson wannabe who dares to copy Theodore 'Teddy' Roosevelt with the informal shortening of that first name." The disses towards Long weren't received favorably by the audience. "We also ran into an Internet interview after the bell when you correctly pronounced that as the main reason ECW is entertaining, Teddy should be thanking you for selling tickets and making his show money instead of gettin' all bent out of shape when Evan Bland and Monkey Ortiz aren't hailed as gods. The way I see it, you would damn sure be doing yourself a ton of favors ditching Teddy Long and ECW and not just coming here to Smackdown, but coming here to Smackdown by joining our little family!" If he was marketing to the fans, he wouldn't have succeeded. The family reference brought back some unwelcome memories of a certain Edgemaster's crew and resulted in a chorus of boos.

"Sounds like you're really got a way with words," Johnny sarcastically quipped. "But even despite the bad family reference, we actually know that you're not exactly best friends with Vickie Guerrero either. So by coming here we'd just be switching over from the wrath of one biased General Manager to another. I don't see how that helps anybody."

"I don't think you've actually done well for yourselves handling the wrath of Teddy Long, now have you?" Christian made sure to point out. "The way I see it, you'd be better off handling the wrath of another biased General Manager, should she ever decide to break our little agreement to stay out of each other's business and use that wrath on us, while part of a five-person group with a leader as good as me!" And that note ended up getting him a mixed reaction, mostly a good one though.

"Why should we even accept this?" Miz then asked defiantly, still angry about what happened earlier. "Seriously, tell me! Cause I don't know! You sent Tomko to humiliate me and now you want us to join you, to be your little friends!?"

"First of all, I didn't ask him to do any specific thing. Just to piss you off and get you raring to go. Whatever bad memories he evoked, those are between you and him. That's none of my business," Christian noted again. "But even more importantly, you get to redeem your reputation with the Palace of Wisdom. See, after seeing some of the footage and hearing the story, I'm pretty sure most of your Mizfits over there were quite the embarrassed. We all know you wanted to bring the beautiful Maryse into the Palace anyway. Now you get the extra rep boost of bringing in not only her, but Captain Charisma and Tomko to boot! That can only do you mucho favors, and if you can't see that, well… I'm not even gonna dignify that with a response."

While Christian's cleverness with now finally met with full crowd approval again for the first time since giving the fans a bad flashback to La Familia, Miz and Morrison started to discuss the matter amongst themselves off-mike. After taking about twenty seconds in their decision making process, they finally turned to Christian and company again.

"Okay, Christian. While the Miz is apparently still pissed off about the fact that your boy embarrassed him in the back, he recognizes the benefits of joining forces enough to trust you cautiously. But I want a condition put into it, just to be sure you're not in this only for yourselves," Johnny then declared.

"And what's that?" Christian asked him.

"Later on, into our term as a unit, I still want this match," Johnny replied, bringing the crowd to a high note once again as Tomko asked Christian to give him the microphone.

"Deal," Tomko then announced, making it official. John Morrison and the Miz were officially now a part of the gang! And as the crowd actually celebrated this announcement, Tomko's theme track came on and Johnny and Miz exited the ring, making their way up the ramp and approaching a nodding trio of Tomko, Maryse, and Christian. Meanwhile, Jim Ross and Tazz at the announcer's table were marking out about the repercussions of this revelation upon Smackdown. As Morrison and Miz eventually made it up the ramp, Morrison shook hands with the three original members, while Miz was tentative to accept anything. Tomko noticed and called him over, saying the following:

"Listen, kid. I know I pissed you off in the back, but it's what I felt I had to do. Christian told me to light a fire under your ass, I just figured I'd do a little more than that. Everything you told me about, everything you shouted to me about the road you took to become a wrestler, think about all of it before you go into a match. When you come out at your arrogant self, think about what got you here. Miz, you can become a champion. Every single one of us here can. All you gotta do is be Miz to the best of your ability. I just felt like offering a little push, cause the five of us right here, we are set to take over. Just look at what's in front of you, man, cause this is something special. You got it?"

Miz nodded and with a "yeah," showing some understanding. Finally, Christian and Maryse welcomed him aboard, before the five of them lined up in the order of Tomko, Morrison, Christian, Maryse, and Miz, with their arms all raised high, as the show headed to a commercial break.

Some 6 minutes later, the quintet assembled by Christian was found and stopped by WWE dot com's Joey Styles and an Exclusive camera.

"Christian, while it can't be disputed that your return to the WWE has been nothing short of shocking, the actions you've taken and the group you've assembled can also best be described as unprecedented. You have always laid claim to be a man of vision, so I just have to ask you, what is this vision you have that has motivated you to do things the way you have so far?"

"You know what? Joey, usually this is the part where I tell some knock-knock joke and embarrass my interviewer, which I've already done to Eve tonight, but since I've already done it tonight and you're somewhat of a legend, I'm just gonna get straight to the point," Christian commenced. "See, this right here… this is just like the presidential election going on right now in this country. While one corner is involved in bitter partisanship, trying to dictate to people who's the real Christian America and who's the radical going-to-a-Christian-hate-church-for-20-years-but-somehow-is-still-Muslim terrorist while at the same time looking more close-minded, corrupt, and terrorist-like with every news article and piece of information that comes out about 'em, the other takes a path that's really… Jesus-esque, for all you Christians out there. That other side spreads a message of inclusion, taking people in, speaking and moving… for hope and change for the whole entire country. Not just those that are on their side, but everybody."

"Oh, and that other side has been vocally endorsed by me on the Dirt Sheet," Johnny made sure to remind the web viewers.

"Yeah, I kinda saw, you had some cool episodes there," Christian noted, to which Johnny said "thanks" before he turned back to the microphone being held up to his face by the former ECW announcer Styles. "Now, let's focus on the WWE. For years, for years upon years, and for years upon years upon years… we've been living in a world, living in a bubble, where wrestling has been divided in two. You got one side of the spectrum, they absolutely love the fans, they kiss up to 'em at every turn, and they make sure that they only team with fan favorites, and they douse themselves in a false feeling of virtue so they can feed off the crowd every match on a regular basis. Then there's the other side of the fans, the ones who absolutely hate 'em. Can't stand the way the audiences are sheep to the 'paragons of virtue' I mentioned earlier. And to purposefully piss them off, some of their tactics are the dirty and underhanded strokes o' genius that take advantage of the fact that a referee's health plan doesn't include vision. Well, you know what I say to that? I say both sides o' that spectrum are no different than the first side, the divisive side, of what I was talking about with the whole election thing."

"Then, you guys would be like… the other side? The side you described as being Jesus-esque?" Styles then asked him.

"Joey Styles, congratulations. Usually I would knock you for having a crush on Kelly Kelly," Johnny started, to which Miz interjected a third "Kelly," to parody Santino Marella, "and being a nerd, but tonight your nerdy side is actually working in your favor. See, we over here don't believe in partisanship. Not amongst a political discussion, and not amongst our view of the WWE wrestling fans. We understand that there are some people who can't understand our sophisticated brand of humor and entertainment. We also understand that there are some people who absolutely love it. We don't cater to either side of the coin. We rely on our charisma to galvanize both of these opinions together and listen to the melting pot of diverse emotions with pride."

"Yeah, exactly. And not only that, we're equal opportunity competitors. We don't need to duck or back down or form allies with people on either side," Christian continued, taking over the reins. "We will happily compete and beat the hell out of people like Matt Hardy and Triple H just as quickly as we would deal with guys like Edge, and Vladimir Kozlov, and Chris Jericho. Not only that, we're a team. We're a unit. We are in this together. We're not here just for ourselves, we're here for one another as well. And it's in that spirit that I guarantee you, we will be taking over Smackdown. And we will be setting in a new change, ringing in a new dawn, and ushering in a new era. And in this new era… well, just like I can tell you the stoic guy who wants to unite the country is probably gonna get elected as its President, I can also tell you that each and every one of us will serve as living proof that I am the champ."

"One last question, though, before you go, what exactly is your group's name?" Joey Styles then inquired once again.

"Our name? Are you serious? You want our name? Well, let me help you out here. I'm gonna let you sit down and think about my history. More specifically, sit and think about my history with this big man behind me, 'the Problem Solver' Travis Tomko. And when you go thinking about it long enough, it should bite you right in the ass," Christian started, again getting defiantly clever.

"But even if you get it, which we know you will, you'd do yourself a real favor by keeping your mouth shut," Tomko jumped in again. "Cause we will mark our name down in history, by proclaiming it once we make our first big move. Just in case you don't get it, though, I'm giving you one last clue: don't ever change the last name Styles. It brings back fond memories for me and Christian."

"Guys, I'm a little impatient right now. Can we just leave already?" Miz then asked, clearly exasperated by all this.

"You know, that's a really good idea right now," Maryse agreed. "_Vraiment! __Pourquoi sommes-nous toujours ici?_" And the short French diatribe instantly confused everyone there, especially Miz.

"What was that?" the Chick Magnet eventually incredulously asked, finally saying what everyone wanted to.

"I… think that might've been French for the same question you feel like asking, Miz," Morrison deduced after a few seconds.

"Why are we still here?" Miz guessed.

"Exactly," Johnny answered, to which Maryse actually let on an impressed smile. "Just for the record, why _are_ we still here?"

"Good question. Here's the answer: we're not," Christian stated, before walking off. The others simply looked at each other for a few seconds, which he turned back to notice. "Come on! What are you guys waiting for, some kind of an open invitation to smack your faces? Let's go!"

Sounds of "Oh yeah," "That's it," and "We're with ya, buddy," came from the others as they followed Christian out of here for the night. One thing was left for certain at the end of this night: Miz and Morrison's addition to Christian's new group certainly turned heads.

-

A/N: Though it did take too long to write and to some people to read, I think I did tell you guys it would be well worth it. Hopefully it lived up to that promise well enough. If I can get the next chapter done in quickly enough, I might be able to also finally finish and post a chapter of my anime crossover fanfic that I haven't even updated in about a year and a half as well. Oh, and if anybody wants to ask me why the story mentions a certain election as if it were still happening when we already know who the next President of the United States is… look at the story event date. Seriously, that hardly looks like November 4th. I haven't even gotten to No Mercy yet. But that's a couple chapters away.

Oh, and by the way, this is the same Smackdown where Shelton Benjamin came out and said R-Truth had no standards, only for Truth to piss him off and cause him to leave flustered thanks to the usual "what's up" routine. Plus Maria and Brie Bella defeated Natalya and Victoria with more under-the-ring shenanigans. In deleted events that had to make way for this story, Vladimir Kozlov's match with Khali featuring Jeff Hardy and Triple H run-ins and Chavo's victory over Jimmy Wang Yang were both canceled out - Kozlov instead got a video package.

Chavo did get some action, though, cause we're still counting when he and Vickie along with Big Show decided to try to smoke out the Undertaker, only for Taker to systemically tear apart the Guerreros by trashing Chavo in the office and then Tombstoning Vickie in the ring at the end of the show. Basically, this was the last Smackdown of the CW Network era. As we all know, MyNetworkTV is now the new home of Smackdown.

Well, now I'm off to remove the Scarlet Cloak story like I said I would in it. Or maybe I should wait on that until Renee finally sees the notice…

…anyway, I'm done here, guys and gals. Keep it cool. 'Til the next one.

Pac.


	5. We are the Christian Coalition!

_**State of Takeover: Cause That's How I Roll!**_ by Instant Classic Superstar Pac

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and this is not linked to any of my other stories.

Rating: T

Summary: Right as she declares unfinished business, Captain Charisma suddenly returns and is talking to her. The result is the first seed of a new Coalition set to turn the world upside down. (Christian, Maryse, Tomko, Morrison, Miz, and an eventual pairing.)

-

NOTE: Dragon and Sword Master… yes. I know. Now her character's attracted to Festus. **Freakin' Festus!** It's absolutely ridiculous. Though a cute face she does have, Maria Kanellis would not be allowed at the Palace of Wisdom for any more than a one night stand, the otherwise risk being she would turn it into a Palace of Stupidity.

Speaking of Palaces of Wisdom and groups turning worlds upside down… let's just get on with this.

**Chapter 5: We are the Christian Coalition!**

_Part 1_

_Event Date: Tuesday, September 30, 2008_

Location: Resch Center, Green Bay, WI

The atmosphere in the ECW locker room actually felt quite different compared to the way it had felt last week. The difference, however, wasn't exactly either all good or all bad. There were two very notable changes in the air to make that happen. One was the good sort of change, at least as far as helping the show stay in keeping with the times. The other would be the bad half - the departure of John Morrison and the Miz.

Now, while a great many of the stars in the back didn't exactly miss Morrison and Miz too much, the atmosphere of their departure was indeed felt. Basically, everybody recognized that General Manager Theodore Long has chased them away from ECW by making it clear he favored his "New Superstar Initiative" over them in spite of the fact that they were much more of a sure thing than anyone who on average came out of the Initiative. See, while that program did give the show the energetic Ricky Ortiz and the amazingly athletic Evan Bourne, and even they ended up derided by Christian derided on Smackdown as "Monkey Ortiz" and "Evan Bland" due to their vastly different yet uninteresting personalities, it has also produced such one-hit wonders as Braden Walker and Gavin Spears. Not really a cool record. Morrison and Miz, meanwhile, were surefire entertainment and impressive match work just practically cast aside for the sake of Teddy's pride in his pet project. Some of the stars were rumbling about how it was only a matter of time before they became cast aside in just the same manner, while others thought of the holes left by Johnny and Miz's departure as some sort of an opportunity. Specifically, Elijah Burke, who hadn't been seen or scheduled for anything in awhile, was actually heard and spotted making a call to somebody asking them to show up.

After the WWE and ECW opening videos, which came on at a new time of 9:00, the first sight we saw in the ring, was Theodore Long doing his silly little dance while his assistant Tiffany held a microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to introduce the General Manager of ECW, Theodore Long!" Tiffany announced as Long waved to the cheering crowd. "And now, please help me welcome the ECW Champion, Matt Hardy!"

And the fans went off their feet immediately as "Live For The Moment" by Monster Magnet came on, and Matt Hardy came out on the stage and did his rolling arms into the V1 sign, then pointed to the steel ECW Championship belt around his waist, before going down the ramp high fiving a few fans. He then went on the steps, did the point around the crowd thing he and Tomko are known for, then came into the ring and shook hands with Teddy first and then Tiffany, before leaning on the ropes and doing the V1 sign, all to a standing ovation. Once he came down, he made the cheers go even louder by parading the roll into V1 gesture all over the place and clapping his hands a few times, following which his music finally went down.

"And his opponent this Sunday at No Mercy, accompanied by WWE Hall of Famer Tony Atlas," Tiffany continued to a soft round of boos, "he is the former ECW Champion and the World's Strongest Man, Mark Henry!"

Mark Henry's theme song, "Some Bodies Gonna Get It" by Three 6 Mafia, actually came on before Tiffany was fiished, and Henry came out along with his manager Tony Atlas and a scowl on his face, no nonsense as he came straight down the ramp, over the steps, and into the ring. He briefly handed his microphone to Tony Atlas and shook hands with Teddy, but as Tiffany held out her hand, he simply stared at her, before taking his mike back. Matt had gotten one during Mark's entrance, and Tiffany handed hers to Teddy, as Mark stepped a few steps closer to Matt and the music faded out.

"Now, gentlemen," Teddy started, "as you two know, we're just five days away from No Mercy. And that is where you two will go one on one for the ECW Championship. Now, what I wanted to do was to bring you two together, face to face, one last time, to say any final comments before your match at No Mercy. Now, Mark, you're up first."

"First of all, Teddy, I'd like to say thank you for showin' me the due respect of actually allowin' me to have both first say and equal say to Matt out here. Cause if you didn't, I wouldn't hesitate to just walk straight out the door like John Morrison and the Miz did with some help from Christian," Mark Henry immediately stated, hitting a nerve with Teddy as well as the fans that liked him, who were more clear with their boos than the General Manager with the lack of change in his expression. Henry then finally turned "But that's besides the point. Matt, you got a bad week ahead o' you Not just Sunday at No Mercy, but you gotta show… and- you got a match against Triple H," (insert mild cheers) "Chris Jericho," (insert mild boos), "in a championship, triple threat! Well, Matt, Theodore Long is not gonna tell you this, but he wishes that I was still the ECW Champion! Because that way, he knows that I would come away wit' a victory! You, on the other hand, could just go out there and completely embarrass yourself, and embarrass ECW."

"I think I'll do just fine for ECW, Mark," Matt Hardy insisted. "I think I'll represent ECW proudly." And the cheers that Matt paused to receive were more a sign that the crowd was on his side than the constant chorus of "what" at every short pause of Henry's speaking.

"Well, there lies the problem," the World's Strongest Man counter-reasoned, shaking his head in thought for a second. "You shouldn't be in that match! You didn't beat me for dat title! Nobody did! But you know, come Sunday, I'll right, all the wrongs."

"You know, Mark, it is a very, very big week for me. And it's the kinda week I knew I'd be facing as the ECW Champion," Matt responded, taking a short pause as the chants of "Hardy! Hardy! Hardy! Hardy!" built up in the crowd. "And Mark, it's a tough week, but it's the kinda week I'll like. Because I love the challenge. Unlike you, I realize when I'm the ECW Champion, this title isn't all about me. This title is about representing all the other ECW Superstars in the back! It's about representing all the ECW fans in the audience!" A short pause came here for a loud burst of cheers. "Oh, Mark; look, I'm not through. Because it's not about feeding your ego like you did. It's not about getting a Hall of Famer to sell out and carry your bags. It's not about- it's not about puffing out your chest and saying every other minute, 'I'm the World's Strongest Champion!' No, it's not about that. What this title is about, is simply being the best that ECW has to offer, being the ECW Champion! And this Sunday, at No Mercy, I'm gonna prove it to you once and for all."

"Why don't you say that in my face and we could start No Mercy right here tonight!?"

"Oh, yeah, is that right!?" Hardy contended immediately to the World's Strongest Man's angry dare, a counter which, despite the common sense this whole conversation was in Henry's face, didn't serve to quell anything. Henry gave his microphone to Atlas and stepped up an inch or two closer, which Hardy noticed to get back on his platform. "Oh, so it's like that, isn't it? You can dish it out with all sorts of intensity, but you can't take it? You can disrespect our General Manager Teddy Long using an unfortunate defection, but you can't take it when I try to explain to you the true meaning of this ECW Championship and the respect that it carries? Well, let me try and see if I can't get through to you. I'm gonna ask our General Manager respectfully what he wants to do about the Morrison and Miz situation." Hardy then turned to Long.

"Wait a minute now, Matt. When did this suddenly turn to bein' about me now?" Long

"Teddy, I'm not gonna show you disrespect like Mark Henry, but I will say this: I'm the kinda guy, who as the ECW Champion, loves a challenge and would like nothing more than to have the best competition possible," Matt then proclaimed. "Last week, we just saw John Morrison and the Miz last week on Smackdown get convinced to go to Smackdown and to leave ECW, so now I can't have matches against them. I just wanna know, personally, from the ECW Champion to the General Manager, what exactly do you plan on doing about this?"

"Well, Matt, I appreciate the fact that you were respectful in asking your question," Teddy replied, "but tonight, tonight's not the night to deal with the Miz and John Morrison. The night to deal with that will be this Friday night on Smackdown, where I will meet not with Vickie Guerrero, since she obviously is in no condition to do too much after the Tombstone Piledriver she took from the Undertaker last week, but with her surrogate and muscle, 'the World's Largest Athlete' the Big Show."

Finally, on came a theme that hadn't been heard on WWE television since May: "Don't Waste My Time", the entrance theme song of the former New Breed leader, "the Black Pope" Elijah Burke. But as Burke came out onto the stage, not only did he have a microphone, he wasn't exactly quite alone. Out with him was none other than Chuck Palumbo.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome once again to the Elijah Experience!" Burke proclaimed, getting loud boos for his boisterous behavior. "Tonight, for the first time in months, you are now graced by the presence of Your Host of Hosts himself, the Guiding Light, the Black Pope, the Silver-Tongued Pugilist, me! Elijah Burke!" More boos came in as he burst in with his ego. "And tonight, I brought a good friend of mine who has happily decided to join the ECW brand. Take a look at Chuck Palumbo!" And the boos built up even further as Palumbo thumped his chest and raised his arms somewhat similarly but not quite like Rhino.

"Uh, excuse me… what are you guys doing here? This is supposed to be a face to face between myself and Mark Henry," Matt Hardy pointed out in questioning.

"We're here, Matt, because the time has come for us to be here," Elijah replied. "For months, both Chuck Palumbo and myself have been relegated to sitting on the sidelines and waiting for some semblance of an opportunity to drop at our laps because we haven't been booked for any matches or given any airtime! And now that the Miz and John Morrison are gone from ECW, we have decided that enough is enough! We want to step up to the plate and show each and every single one of you just what we are capable of, why Chuck here was once called the Main Event back in WCW, and especially why I am THE Guiding Light and THE Paragon of Virtue!" Burke then handed his mike to Palumbo in the midst of even deeper boos.

"And you know what? Teddy, we want a crack at those two boys you've found yourself so fond of, what are their names again? Evan something and some other Ortiz?" Chuck continued on, receiving deeper jeers for it. "Not only do we want a crack at 'em, we wanna beat 'em, and we wanna knock them out! Maybe after we do, Teddy, you'll learn to appreciate all your talents more and not just those who kiss up to all these idiots or come through your rookie programs, and you won't be chasing Superstars away!"

"Chuck Palumbo, Elijah Burke, allow me to be the first to say, first of all, their names are Evan Bourne, as in the Jason Bourne movie trilogy, and Ricky - okay, read my lips; Ric…ky - Ortiz," Matt started up immediately. "Secondly, I actually happen to like Evan Bourne and Ricky Ortiz. They are solid performers, they spark a lot of energy, and they are really respectful towards everyone - including egomaniacs like Mark Henry here and the two of you. So here's what I propose. Since you want a crack at Evan Bourne and Ricky Ortiz so badly, and since Mark Henry apparently wants to beat me up right now, why don't we do a challenge that I'm sure Evan and Ricky will no doubt accept? Why don't we have ourselves a six-man tag team match in this ring, right here, tonight!?" His suggestion brought the crowd off their feet as Mark took his microphone back from his manager Tony.

"Y'know what? I think we should do dat. Beatin' you up and makin' your bad hell of a week comin' up even worse, sounds like a good idea to me," Henry decided. "So as long as Burke and Palumbo up there are still ready to back up their words, I'm ready to back up mine. We got ourselves a match!"

"That I can tell you I have no problem with! So tonight, our main event will be the ECW Champion Matt Hardy teaming up with Ricky Ortiz and Evan Bourne to take on Mark Henry, Elijah Burke, and Chuck Palumbo! Ladies and gentlemen, enjoy this show! This is E… C… dubya! Holla!" Teddy cheerfully announced, dropping the microphoe and doing his jig again as the fans cheered and his music came on. Henry and Atlas made their way out of the ring and back up the ramp, satisfied with what just happened, as was Hardy, who just clapped in agreement with Long and with everything that just happened.

You know, it's really too bad that Matt was so happy to go through with this match, considering that during the main event match itself later that night, Burke and Palumbo were much tougher to handle than he must've originally thought, really held their own well against him and his New Talent Initiative partners. Mark Henry only briefly interjected his way into the match at times, until towards the end, he finally decided to come in and destroy Evan Bourne for the victory. One thing was clear, though. Things will surely be interesting now with the Miz and Morrison around. But more likely than not, they won't be as entertaining.

One thing to commend Matt about, though, is he was actually able to go through a promo without looking like some revenge-crazed dick, and even managed to get a little clever. We don't know if Christian was watching this show with the rest of his new friends, but if they were watching, that probably impressed them just a little.

_Part 2_

_Event Date: Friday, October 3, 2008_

Location: Resch Center, Green Bay, WI

The Smackdown locker room found itself joined by many Superstars from both Raw and ECW tonight, namely all-stars and champions of both brands. The atmosphere on Smackdown was running rampant because of the fact that this was the first presentation that was to be shown on MyNetworkTV after years or so of working in the blue brand smack on the CW Network. Vickie Guerrero, prior to last week's show, had had talks with Theodore Long and Mike Adamle about one All-Star Cast 8-man tag team mach as well as a row of matches between champions from Raw, ECW, and Smackdown. Those matches were definitely a piece of the attention span around the corner of the Resch Center, especially amongst all the very notable superstar figures who were part of the program.

However, even as this was so, there was still a great deal of the attention extended onto the band of Christian and company, who acquired John Morrison and the Miz as well as somehow transferred them to become official Smackdown superstars at the same time. Word had gotten out through Theodore Long's announcement on ECW that he would be meeting with the Big Show in order to decide what to do about this. Namely, if Morrison and Miz would be sent back to ECW, if Christian would be penalized in any way, the works.

In fact, it was actually after the all-star 8-man tag team kickoff match won by Jeff Hardy, Finlay, Rey Mysterio, and Batista over The Brian Kendrick, JBL, MVP, and Kane, that Teddy Long and Mike Adamle found themselves talking inside what was supposed to be Vickie Guerrero's office.

"Mike, did you see dat? The one ECW guy in this match, Finlay, came out a part of the victorious team. You might wanna pay attention to what's goin' on on Tuesday nights there, playa," Teddy Long stated in his trademark fashion, plugging his program.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, but what about the fact that two of Monday Night Raw's shining stars, Rey Mysterio and Batista, were also on that winning team?" Adamle countered, before the door suddenly burst open.

"Yeah, well, there were also two Raw losers in that match as well. Regrettably, I can say that Smackdown also had two losers," Big Show bellowed out, coming into the room with a somewhat-suited Chavo Guerrero.

"And only one winner," Chavo stupidly said, finding himself in a brief spell of brand partiality which was by far against his own best interest. This was shown by Big Show looking crossly his way.

"You keep your mouth shut or I will break your teeth in, you got it?" Big Show harshly threatened him, to which the self-proclaimed Latino Warrior tentatively nodded in fear.

"Uh, Big Show, I'll be out and ready to go to the ring if that's cool with you. Make sure you meet me there in a few minutes now, alright?" Teddy asked.

"Yeah, sure. We got business to take care of tonight," Show agreed.

"A'ight now, don't forget," Teddy made sure to state. "Holla." He then walked past Big Show and out the door. Right afterwards, Show and Chavo turned their gazes to Mike Adamle, and were not very friendly looking in that process.

"Okay, guys… what's the problem?" Adamle asked them, somehow none the wiser to the fact that this was not a good idea.

"I'm locking up the office for a few minutes, Adamle! Now get out!" Big Show commanded,

"Uh… sure," Adamle stated, before slowly walking out, careful not to step on or displease Chavo and especially Big Show in any way. Once he was out of their sight, Chavo and Show turned to one another.

"You've got the keys, right?" Show then asked the little man.

"Yeah, I got 'em," Chavo replied, taking them out of the pocket of his pants.

"Good," Show said while snatching the keys from Chavo's hand as the two stepped out and closed the door. Show used the keys to lock the office, then shoved them back into Chavo's pants as if showing the wrestling Guerrero just who was the boss around here. Chavo partially felt like grimacing in pain, but he knew Big Show would probably boss him around to some degree, as evident by the uncouth bossy gesture. Which resulted in that slight pain in the side in the first place.

Some 5, 10, 15 minutes or so later, following Raw's Santino Marella's victory over Shelton Benjamin which he can attribute to the distraction of R-Truth, Theodore Long, Chavo Guerrero, and the Big Show were indeed seated at a table set inside the ring, with microphones set in front of all three of them.

"Okay, gentlemen, we officially have some business to conduct in this ring," Chavo began, "that will pertain very importantly to both the brands of ECW as well as Smackdown. This business has everything to do with the events of last week, when what was supposed to be a tag team match turned into a recruiting session which in turn took two ECW superstars, John Morrison and the Miz, and brought them over to Friday Night Smackdown not through any legal contractual means, but through an invitation to join a growing faction within the brand. ECW's General Manager Theodore Long has decided to take issue with this transfer, and now, Teddy, you may explain to us what your main issue about this is and what you propose we do about it."

"Well, like you just said, John Morrison and the Miz were not legally transferred to Smackdown through any contractual agreement or any official act from World Wrestling Entertainment. In addition to that, there has been no notice to me from World Wrestling Entertainment to condone what happened last week on Smackdown," Long immediately began to press on. "So therefore, what I propose is that Smackdown officially recognize that John Morrison and the Miz cannot be considered official Smackdown superstars, cannot be considered members of a Smackdown faction, and therefore must be returned to the ECW brand from this moment going forward." And that requested edict ended up seriously putting a dent into Long. Suddenly, before they could really get anywhere, the Dirt Sheet music and intro video started going on, featuring John Morrison and the Miz, following which the video flashed into Morrison and Miz sitting down on chairs in front of the Hollywood style Dirt Sheet hill background.

"Hi. I'm John Morrison, and people have been telling me all week that Miz and Morrison have officially added sex appeal to Friday Night Smackdown," Morrison began, making his trademark observation about stuff at the beginning of every show.

"Now that's something I KNOW everyone respect. And I'm your Chick Magnet, THE Miz!" Miz introduced himself before getting on with the program facts. "Tonight, we would like to say that in our first full night as Smackdown superstars, we, along with our new friends, intend to make one huge splash after three others."

"But before we get to that, since Theodore Long has decided to try and hope to somehow legislate us back onto his slave program through Big Show, we would like to demonstrate the kind of influential, powerful figure that he is dealing with," Morrison began the report.

"Now, let's take a look," Miz finally stated, before the scene on the titantron and on television screens everywhere did the typical Dirt Sheet Flash into showing clips of the Big Show with funny music in the background. The first one was a clip of his WrestleMania match with Floyd Mayweather, when Big Show turned to Mayweather and charged at him only to be doubled over by a steel chair shot to the gut. The scene stopped and flashed the red label of "loser". The second one was from that same match, when Floyd kicked him downstairs for a low blow and he ended up tumbling down on knee. That scene stopped and flashed the red label of "impotent". Then it showed when Floyd Mayweather punched him into having a broken nose when he made his return at No Way Out, and the red label word was "idiot". The fourth clip was Mayweather knocking out Big Show with brass knuckles at WrestleMania. The label word there was "brain dead". There was yet another Dirt Sheet Flash now that brought us back to the original scene.

"Well, there you have it. How very intimidating. I sure would dread running into him in a dark alley," Morrison easily and sarcastically deadpanned.

"You know, Floyd Mayweather actually retired after that match," Miz recalled. "So Big Show did keep up his promise from back then, ending Mayweather's boxing career. I just didn't realize that it was possible to end somebody by taking an injury."

"Looks like Big Show's got a new invention to patent now. Let's just nobody calls him a bald-headed B-I-T… well, you know the rest. After this showing, he simply wouldn't be able to retort," Johnny stated.

"That's actually true. Cause in life, there are winners, and there are losers," Miz segued into the duo's closing mantra.

"We are the longest reigning WWE Tag Team Champions in recent history," Morrison continued it.

"Be jealous!" the duo of Miz and Morrison then both declared, as the closing video graphic came on and faded out along with the Dirt Sheet theme.

Back in the arena, Big Show was absolutely fuming in humiliated fury while the fans were cheering his total and complete misfortunate embarrassment. Suddenly, cameras backstage showed footage of a black Mercedes-Benz W211 4-door sedan pulling into the arena's parking lot. Coming out of the front door was indeed Captain Charisma himself, Christian, while Maryse came out the front passenger's side. Morrison and Miz came out the left side back door, and Tomko came out the right back door. It wasn't too long until all four doors ended up closed, then locked from the outside by Christian using the key, and finally, the crew looked into the camera they knew was there, Christian standing front and center.

"Hey, hold on a minute, uh… Teddy Long? Big Show? You guys over there?" Christian then asked. Big Show then stormed up to his feet and even turned the table around a few inches, he was so pissed off.

"Yeah, we're over here! And you better answer for the way that you just mocked me in front of the world!" Show commanded immediately, as if he was gonna go anywhere with it.

"Hey, hey, hey- relax! Relax, alright? Even thought I thought it was funny, I have no control over what Johnny and the Miz decide to do with the Dirt Sheet. It's their program, not mine. I can't pretend it is," Christian stated in his defense. "Second of all, I think it's about time now to get down to the nitty gritty. See, Teddy… Teddy Long, you think for one second that you're God, and then all of a sudden your world comes crashing down around you. So now you get so scared you think contract regulations are on your side and you can just pull Miz and Morrison back in like you're running some kind of a slave trade or something. Is that what you think? Cause I'm here to explain to you just how you're dead wrong."

"How is he dead wrong when you're the one invading shows, trying to renovate people's contract, transferring people from one brand to another without the proper authority, and taking a risk of getting Smackdown in trouble with the McMahons?" Big Show asked instantly. While the fans booed as usual since they don't like Big Show, Christian actually nodded in acknowledgement that he posed a good point.

"You know, that's actually… not a bad question, Big Show. That's actually a pretty good question!" Christian did indeed recognize. "The only problem is, my answer is ten times better. See, I don't think any of you know anything about the conditions of my contract, now do ya? No… because my contract to come back to Smackdown wasn't signed by any of you, nor was it signed by Vickie Guerrero. It was signed in person by a certain WWE official. And I asked him to grant me a certain provision that states that as long as I am a Smackdown superstar under this contract, I, along with anybody who's associated with me at the time. can appear on Raw or ECW uninvited any time I want, provided I appear on Smackdown that same week. So Teddy, when you showed your usual partisanship and kicked me out of the arena last week, all you did was cost yourself. You cost yourself big time, cause you violated my contract, which required some form of appropriate punishment."

"Appropriate punishment? What the hell are you talkin' about, Christian?" Teddy then questioned immediately. "You are a wrestler on Smackdown. I am the General Manager of ECW. You are in absolutely no position to punish me."

"You're missing the point. I'm not the guy who's gonna dish out the punishment. That's Shane McMahon," Christian replied, the revelation of Shane's name resulting in huge pops. "Now, when I gave him a phone call and told him what happened, he originally planned to have some sort of a tribunal like the one with Eric Bischoff around the end of 2005. But I told him… 'No.' I said, 'No, book a match. Book a match on Smackdown. Christian and Travis Tomko against John Morrison and the Miz.' Then I told him everything. I told him… that I had no intention on wrestling the match- he knew from the very beginning what was gonna happen. If I had my way, John Morrison and the Miz would be standing here… with me. They'd be standing here with me on Friday Night Smackdown, no longer subject to your vindictive streak of kissing the asses of quote unquote 'good guys' on ECW.

"Oh, and he was really receptive to the idea, by the way," Christian continued. "He knew that this was perfect. That if it worked, you'd be taught a valuable lesson about respecting _all_ your superstars without the total strictness of putting you on the hot seat or the ineffectiveness of a simple fine. Now, if you still wanna legislate your way to taking back Miz and Morrison, the hot seat and the fine are still applicable option. So I suggest you take the hit and learn how to respect _everyone_ on the ECW roster, fan favorite or not. So I think it's safe to say that it's official. Morrison are the Miz are officially my peeps. And they are officially a part of Friday Night Smackdown." This official proclamation just made the Smackdown fans come alive!

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on a minute!" Big Show chimed in, trying to put a hamper on the moment. "Shane McMahon never told Vickie Guerrero anything about this!

"Hey! Idiot Show! Shane McMahon doesn't answer to Vickie Guerrero. Vickie Guerrero answers to the McMahons!" Tomko jumped in, putting his ten cents into the whole thing again. "And the fact is, man, I checked your history. You, Big Show, are actually in good with Shane McMahon. Isn't he the same guy who got you into what was then WWF, who got you into the Corporation? The guy who brought you back and allowed you to face Floyd Mayweather, a match that you completely squandered all on your own? Dude, if Shane McMahon was gonna be pissed off about this, it would all fall on Vickie Guerrero! You would have nothing to do with it! So why are you complaining? Is it because you're really that scared of Shane McMahon? Or is it because you're scared that if you decide to break the office pact Christian made with you and Vickie, having more people on Christian's team leaves less room for you to try anything on us more room for the other way around?" As Tomko raised that point, the cheers in the arena raised the roof.

"There has not been, is not, nor will there be a ploy to break that agreement," Big Show responded formally, not exactly sounding very honest or convincing at that. And the Peeps let him know with boos, too.

"Well, can you believe that, Big Show? _They_ don't believe _you_," Maryse stated bluntly to a standing ovation. "I mean, you're the one who booked me into the very ECW appearance that made all this possible in the first place, and you're the one trying to work with Teddy Long to whine about the results and try to force John Morrison and the Miz back away from us and into ECW. You're the one who is interfering in our business. As far as we're concerned, we could very easily say that you not only have moved to try to bend the pact, but you _have_ broken the pact. But we're gonna give you… just… how many again, guys?"

"One," Tomko answered.

"Oh, yes. Thank you. We're going to give you one more chance to honor this pact. If you can't, trust me. The boys will be beating you up, they will be beating Chavo up," Maryse then warned to increasing cheers, "and if they have to beat up the Undertaker to make sure they get to finish the job and not him, they'll be beating him up too." And right there the huge chorus of cheers turned into an even huger mixed reaction.

An instant burst of static then hit the titantron, so we could no longer see our heroes, but there wouldn't be any big investigation into what just happened, cause that was immediately followed up by the scene of a blackout induced by the Undertaker's Dark Bell. After a few seconds of a screaming crowd, the eerie gong of the De then tolled once again, leading to the lights coming back on, and Teddy Long and Chavo Guerrero found themselves in the presence of the Undertaker! Big Show, however, had wisely gotten out of the ring in anticipation of Undertaker entering it out of thin air through the darkness.

Long and Guerrero, however, were not so fortunate. Teddy ended up standing right next to the Undertaker, who caught side of him, then decided to take him by the head and throw him over the top rope out of the ring! As Undertaker stared a deep gaping hole into the retreating Big Show, who was seeing all this by looking up at the titantron, Chavo Guerrero left the ring, came back into it with a chair, and tried to hit Undertaker, only for the Lord of Darkness to quickly turn around and boot the chair into Guerrero's skull! Undertaker then hovered over Chavo for a brief while, before grabbing him by the throat, picking him up with one hand, then setting him up and choke slamming him through the long table!" Big Show tried to use this opportunity to turn around and come after Taker, but right as he was at the bottom of the ramp, Undertaker turned around with his eyes in the back of his head and a menacing growl on his face, freezing Show in his giant tracks! The Dark Bell then tolled twice more, the lights going back off and on again, and this time the Undertaker had vanished.

The unit of five used this time to make their way into their dressing room, a good 25-30 minutes or so later, there was a match ongoing - a Diva lumberjack match between WWE Women's Champion Beth Phoenix from Raw and of course, Smackdown's Divas Champion Michelle McCool. All the non-champion WWE Divas were asked to come out and play the ringside lumberjacks, and everyone accepted except for Maryse. She felt that she would do herself a lot better service staying in the back and observing things with the rest of the gang than going out and being part of something which would no doubt disintegrate into a mild street catfight. Of course, this thing did spiral into something of the sort, and it ended up coming to a close with Jillian distracting Michelle McCool as she was going up top, leading to Beth Phoenix being able to hook both of her arms from behind, lift her up high in chicken wing position, then slam her down face first in that horribly-named Glam Slam finisher, covering her for the 1, 2, 3.

As Beth was announced the winner, she celebrated in the ring and her backers clapped and chatted amongst themselves, while the lumberjacks that were there as friends of Michelle McCool looked on in concern. Maryse, however, watching from inside the group's dressing room, simply threw on a sardonic chuckle and shook her head. Miz and Tomko were seated next to one another on a sofa placed in the room, while the other three stood up just a little closer to the tube, paying deeper attention to the program.

"See anything you like?" Johnny asked her as he noticed her expression.

"I can beat her," Maryse declared, seemingly ignoring the long-haired Californian.

"'Scuse me, uh… what was that?" Christian then asked.

"Michelle McCool. I know I can beat her again for that title if I get another shot," Maryse repeated, sounding even more confident than she did last time she said it.

"Guys, when are we gonna make our move? The main event's coming up next, we don't really have that much time," Miz asked in curious doubt.

"Hey, uh… you know what? I think that's what we're countin' on," Tomko replied, throwing in a little sarcasm in expressing how obvious this actually was.

"Dude, you don't have to do that. That just bites," Miz mildly complained, feeling a little insulted. Tomko threw on a chuckle and grin of his own, showing the Chick Magnet he was just toying with him in what he would hopefully eventually learn to receive as a friendly, perhaps even brotherly jibe.

"Yo, let's just be students of the game for the time being, and when the time comes, we'll know what to do. Sound good?" Johnny then suggested, quelling whatever dispute could come of this.

"You know what? Yeah, it does," Miz agreed with a nod after a couple of seconds. Christian turned to Miz and grinned a grin of confidence, serving to assure the Chick Magnet that he knew what he was doing, before unfolding his arms and walking over towards the door, not exactly going unnoticed.

"Hey, man, where you going?" Johnny quickly asked him, to which he turned around.

"Oh, I'm just gonna go get some water. No big deal," Christian responded, before opening the door, walking out, and pushing it shut, leaving the others to their own devices for just a little while as the show hit break.

As soon as it returned from commercials, we were back in the group's locker room, and they were already talking about reality shows.

"Wait, so you're telling me you and Christian used to watch _The Real World_? Miz asked the Problem Solver. Having been on that show before, his curiosity was aroused by the subject.

"Yeah, but we didn't see your season," Tomko told him. "It was the, uh… yeah, it was the one in San Diego. Edge actually used to was with us back then."

"Oh, you mean the one with that Frankie chick?" Miz inquired with extra detail.

"Dude… she's, um…" Johnny started and stopped halfway, hoping Miz would get the message and just shut up right there.

"Yeah, I think I got ya," Miz replied, to which Johnny sighed a sigh of relief. Then the door opened and closed as Christian had just come back into the room.

"Hey guys, I just saw the Hardys talking to each other, and Jeff was giving Matt all sorts o' tips on how to beat Triple H," Christian reported, to which Miz immediately found himself trying and failing to stifle laughter.

"What's so funny?" Maryse asked, seriously not getting the humor. Somehow it slipped by the others as well.

"You guys just don't get it!" Miz started after he calmed down, though was still in a laughing mood. "Jeff Hardy is trying to give tips to big brother Matt on how to beat Triple H. Hasn't Jeff Hardy _forgotten_ how to beat Triple H?" The others ended up laughing along there once it finally registered.

Then the cameras turned to the bell ringing back at the arena, as announcer Justin Roberts… well… announced, "This, is a Champion of Champions triple threat match set for one fall!"

From there, fans would end up being treated to an excellent… well, not quite exactly catch as catch can, but it was indeed an excellent back and forth match, with an always teetering and tottering advantage between Chris Jericho, Matt Hardy, and Triple H. All three men had pretty much let everything out of their repertoire, proving their worth to rule in the ring. Eventually, the climactic anybody's-game point of the match came, following a stack superplex power bomb sequence by which all three men went down. Eventually, Triple H and Jericho ended up getting up and then wrestling their way into the boat where Jericho countered a sleeper hold and back dropped the Game on the mat.

After taking quite a bit of time, due to the pain of the match, to both get up and completely take back his bearings, Jericho ended up going for his springboard Lionsault. Triple H was able to move to the side, but Jericho, in anticipation, managed to land on his feet, though even that hurt his knees enough to stop him. This gave Triple H the opportunity to get him and take him down by the legs in the hopes of setting him up for a Figure Four leg lock, only for Jericho to kick Triple H off him into the ropes, knocking Matt Hardy, who just got up, off the apron and to the outside. Jericho then took advantage and took down Triple H by the legs, before successfully turning him around into the Walls of Jericho!

As the fans built up in loud cheers of anticipation, both men's egos and their wills to win now competed greatly in yet another of a billion submission struggle between the Cerebral Assassin and the Savior Self. Jericho was applying the pressure greatly to Tripe H's legs and back, screaming for him to tap out, while the Game was refusing to tap, screaming in agony, roaring and crawling his way over to the ropes. But each time he got closer and closer to the ropes, Jericho had the wherewithal to move him towards the center of the ring. This only stopped when Hardy, now up, slid into the ring and Jericho noticed. As soon as he got off, Matt charged his way, only to get taken down and set to get turned around for the Walls of Jericho, though he did successfully counter into a small package which resulted in a two count.

As both men got up, Jericho kneed Hardy in the midsection, sent him hard into the corner, and ran off the ropes to try to get him from behind with a bulldog, only for Matt to push Chris to the point he ended up briefly trapped in the ropes. As Chris got out and leaned in the corner, Matt hit him with a clothesline him and took him down in a successful bulldog attempt. He then covered Jericho, who once again kicked out after two. Both got up again. Jericho ducked a Hardy clothesline. Matt countered Chris's attempt at a Codebreaker by pushing him down, then held his legs and bridged over for a Jackknife pin cover! 1… 2… no! Jericho kicked out again! Matt then kicked Chris in the gut, tried to go for a Twist of Fate, ended up only getting pushed into the ropes. Jericho tried to go for a clothesline, but Hardy took advantage of it to hook his arm and leap forward, taking him with the Side Effect! Hardy, however, ended up turning around into a kick, double underhook and Pedigree from the now recovered Triple H, who covered him in the ring for the 1, 2, 3.

"The winner of this match, Triple H!"

As "The Game" by Motörhead came on, Triple H slowly recovered his way up to his knees as referee Charles Robinson got his WWE Championship, handed it to him, and raised his arm. He would use the time of the replay of the Side Effect and the Pedigree in order to pick himself up, only to end up turning around into a Codebreaker from Jericho. The Elitist Savior then went down to ringside and grabbed a ladder from underneath the apron, taking it into the ring and seizing up both Triple H and Hardy to see who would get up first, nailing Matt in the head with the ladder when he did so. Chris then dropped the ladder on the ground and laid Matt's prone body inside its bottom rungs of it, hoping to try to crush him within this position. Matt's brother Jeff Hardy then came rushing to the ring, backing Jericho into the ropes with furious fists, then irishwhipping him into the other side and decking him over and out of the ring with a clothesline before he could get off the ropes. Jeff then got Matt out of his predicament and tended to him to see if he was alright, during which Triple H got up and tapped Jeff from behind. As soon as he felt it, however, the Charismatic Enigma snapped and kicked him in the gut before hitting a Twist of Fate! Jeff then set the ladder up and gestured to the crowd, before going up on top of it in the hopes of coming down on the Game. He played to the crowd again, during which Vladimir Kozlov came down and got into the ring, redirecting Hardy's purpose as he jumped right into a battering ram head butt! Kozlov then caught sight of Triple H, picked him up and scoop lifted him into an inverted face lock, before coming down hard with an inverted DDT.

At this exact point is when Christian and company would make their move, as John Morrison and the Miz ran down the ramp, dragging the by-then-up-and-retreating World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho along the way and shoving him into the ring. The Dirt Sheet duo then went around the ring and picked up Matt Hardy, sending him into the ring as well. The two of them then went on the apron, all of this distracting Kozlov, and leaving him prone for Tomko and Christian to come rushing into the ring behind him! Tomko turned Kozlov around and the Moscow Mauler instinctively responded by going for a clothesline, only for Tomko to duck and greet his turning around by grabbing him by the throat and throwing him down with his double handed choke slam! Miz and Morrison then got into the ring, with Maryse now at ringside playing cheerleader at ringside, and Christian directed traffic, telling all three of the others guys to get a chair. He came down to ringside with the rest of them, each taking one of the four chairs that were around the announce table, then heading back in the ring.

In seizing up both Matt Hardy and Jericho, who they knew were trying to pick themselves up now, Christian and Morrison surrounded Jericho, while Miz and Tomko surrounded Hardy. All four men banded their chairs against the mat at least twice in a unified display of tuning up the band, as the fans cheered in anticipation of what would happen. And as soon as both men got up, two simultaneous old Edge & Christian style con-chair-tos ended up being executed, knocking both Hardy and Jericho down and out! Vladimir Kozlov then got himself up at the same time, and Morrison hit him ended up hitting him with a chair to the midsection, following which Miz capitalized with a chair shot to the back as the Stoic Colossus was doubled over. As Kozlov snapped back and fell on his knees in pain, Tomko stepped forward and waited for him to try and pick himself up. The Problem Solver at that point hit Vladimir with a chair to the side of the head, following which he fell flat on his chest! Christian then had all three of them put their chairs underneath Kozlov's head, which it took them awhile to do and it didn't look neat, but they got it done. Finally, he dealt the final salvo of the evening, issuing a one-man con-chair-to straight to Kozlov! And finally, he dropped his chair, and was met with what at first was a very mixed reaction but had by now become a standing ovation. Maryse then went around ringside, got a microphone, and slid into the ring with it, giving it to Christian as the group stood in a line with him front a center.

"Everybody on Smackdown… take, a good look, at this!" Christian began his notice, getting cheered for it all the while. "You see Vladimir Kozlov, you see Matt Hardy from ECW, you even see Raw's World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho… and what you see is a laid out mess in the middle of this ring! This just shows you one thing: we are not biased in our beat downs! We will take on anybody, anytime, anywhere, and we will take them on our terms! We will kick the crap out of people the fans like, and out of people the fans hate! We are equal opportunity conquerors, and we're here to take it to the top with a united, charismatic, and yes, iron fist! We take no nonsense, we take no prisoners, and yes… before you ask, if Big Show wants to get in our way again, he's on just as much warning as anybody on this program!

"We got the Shaman of Sexy, John Morrison! We got the _Artist_ of Sexiness, Maryse! We got the Chick Magnet, the Miz! We got the Problem Solver, Travis Tomko! And of course, we have me! Captain… Charisma, Christian! We are the Christian Coalition…!" And with the official declaration of that very name, he just set everybody off their feet big time. The sounds of approval in the arena were damn near riotous, including when they developed into chants of his name! He _had_ to take a pause to show some appreciation - and his sign to end said pause, was a couple thumps to the chest and a kiss to the crowd, who cheered a little more quietly so he could continue.

"We are the Christian Coalition, and we play our cards right without any back down, cause with each victory, we're one step closer to takin' over Smackdown! True champ status above all others is our penultimate goal, and if we actually need a reason for that… **it's because that's how I roll!**"

And as the theme of themes for this moment finally came on, "Just Close Your Eyes" by Waterproof Blonde, this was probably the biggest standing ovation that theme had ever received. For now, the Smackdown audience knew that here they had that spark in the program they were looking for! As the Christian Coalition lined up in the order of Morrison, Maryse, Christian, Miz, and Tomko, and raised their arms in the center of the ring, they were smiling and proud to take in the cheers of the moment. Jim Ross's final note before came off the air was this:

"Ladies and gentlemen, this has not only been the first Smackdown in the history of MyNetworkTV, this has been _the_ Smackdown on which a phenomenal faction, the Christian Coalition, has just finally come to fruition in front of us all! For Tazz, I'm Jim Ross, saying good night, and thank you, from Green Bay!"

-

A/N: As far as the ECW thing goes, after losing Morrison and Miz, they would need more heels than Mark Henry and Mike Knox. Plus I just wanted to add credibility to John Morrison and the Miz's departure, showing that it did indeed affect ECW by leaving a gaping hole in the program for somebody or two to lock up. And by this point, Burke and Palumbo were not released, and very likely wouldn't have been had WWE creative had this opening and used it for them.

Deleted events from this Smackdown basically consist of anything centered around Big Show and Chavo Guerrero. Obviously what happened here with them and a certain Coalition was much, much better. On a different note, what makes this edition memorable is all the brand champion matches, the all-star 8-man tag team match with for this story's sake was actually a couple minutes shorter, and really just the overall fact that this is the first episode on MyNetworkTV.

Don't expect me to completely play off of actual events from hereon out, though. Last time I plan on doing that a hundred percent will be the next chapter: No Mercy. Plus the utterly draining length of the last two chapters is not something I plan on making a regular thing. Probably occasional for big events or whatnot, or if they have a lot of matches on a certain show expect 6, 7, maybe 8 page (from my view) material, but not all the way up to 10 like this.

On a bittersweet note, by the time I finished the actual first draft writing of this chapter, my Miami Heat just came off the court after a bitter first home loss or the season to some reader out there's Portland Trail Blazers, for those of you who watch NBA basketball.

Time for me to head out, peeps. Happy reading and reviewing… I hope.

Well, I'm off, peeps. 'Til the next one. See ya later!

-Pac.


	6. First Pay Per View Effect

_**State of Takeover: Cause That's How I Roll!**_ by Instant Classic Superstar Pac

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and this is not linked to any of my other stories.

Rating: T

Summary: Right as she declares unfinished business, Captain Charisma suddenly returns and is talking to her. The result is the first seed of a new Coalition set to turn the world upside down. (Christian, Maryse, Tomko, Morrison, Miz, and an eventual pairing.)

-

NOTE: Well, it took a little longer than I would've liked, but we got chapter 6 here. Get set to enjoy.

**Chapter 6: First Pay-Per-View Effect**

_Event Date: Sunday, October 5, 2008_

Location: Rose Garden (& surrounding areas), Portland, OR

John Morrison and the Miz were sitting down at a table near the front windows at the local Old Town Pizza, listening to some music on their iPods and waiting for their order to come in. After awhile, as of Miz's favorite songs finished playing on his Pod, he started to get a little impatient - not to mention his eye for the ladies had actually picked now to start trying to work in overdrive, despite the fact that he didn't see anyone he really considered impressive. To make matters worse as he took those headphones out of his ears, the redheaded waitress Johnny had started flirting with about the second she presented them with the menu wasn't exactly the best they'd ever been served by. (While originally he'd be temped to make a "serviced" joke, the whole scope of the past nine days as a member of Christian's Coalition had actually drained his hormones' capacity to take over his thinking just a bit.) Seriously, she wasn't doing anything wrong, though. She was only taking about a billion years to deliver the two men's order, no doubt eyeing both the Shaman of Sexy and Miz himself with dreams of a hookup running through her veins - honestly, not just her mind, but probably her very veins as well. Yeah, no problem there.

As he looked at his longtime tag team partner and club-hopping companion, Miz at the moment actually felt a tinge of envy towards Johnny - not because he had been the first to receive the attention of the redhead, but because of the fact that he was actually able to wittily play along with the girl's flirtations. Or, more specifically, because of what that meant, what that symbolized. The fact that while Miz was still getting easily flustered by the ribbings of Travis Tomko, probably a partial byproduct of the embarrassment of a couple Friday afternoons ago, and actually a little brain fried trying to comprehend just exactly everything that's gone on here as well as how a certain captain named Christian accomplished all of it, Johnny still somehow managed to stay cool and relaxed about it to the point he could actually still flirt with the ladies just as effectively as before. Damn that John! How was it he could just sit there and be so levelheaded about everything?

And right as he was at this point in this mindless daydreaming sliver of thoughts, that round-faced blue-eyed redheaded waitress finally came walking their way with that box of pepperoni pizza they asked for.

"Here you go, guys. Enough hot pepperoni pizza to fill you guys up for a whole day," she announced, as she put it down on the table, in that fake cheery tone that sounded like she was selling a product for a commercial.

"Wow, great promo. That's really gonna sell out there. How long you worked on that, Kayla, three years?" Miz asked her with complete grumpy sarcasm, having noted the girl's name via the name tag on her uniform.

"Don't mind him right now, he's just being a grinch. The past week and a half or so's got his mind boggled a bit," Johnny immediately chimed in to dissuade Miz's remark from the waitress's mind.

"Oh, it's okay: I watch Smackdown. And trust me, I'm not surprised. All that's happened with you guys lately, I'm surprised _you_ can keep a cool head," Kayla commented, which, despite being a chuckle-spawning overture to Johnny, actually impressed Miz because this common little waitress standing here had just briefly vocalized the very thoughts of the Grand Mizard of Lust himself. His brief moment of admiration for her, however, was cut short, thanks to the vibration he was feeling on the side of his pants. Knowing that someone was calling him now, he reached into the left pocket of his black jeans and took out his cell phone. As he looked at who it was, he couldn't help but to mutter that it's about time, before finally answering:

"Hey, what's up?" A short pause as he listened to the person on the other side. "Finally. I mean, it's taking you guys forever to get here. I don't know who's worse: you, or the waitress who had to take almost a half hour just to get us our pizza?" Enter another short pause. "Five minutes? Are you sure?" he skeptically asked, pausing again to hear the person's answer. "Okay, but if you come late, I'm free to rank on you at least ten times today, no rebuttals. Got it?" he asked, pausing again. "Whaddya mean, I can't do that cause you're- you know what? When you get here, if it takes longer than five minutes, we're gonna have a good talk about this, alright? I'm outie." And on that note, he hung up, pressing the 'end' button and closing up the phone.

"Who was that?" Morrison asked, though he figured it was one of their Coalition teammates.

"It was none other than the man himself," Miz reported in annoyed part-sarcasm. Obviously, Johnny realized, this meant Christian.

"What did he say?" J-Mo then continued in his line of questions.

"Basically that Tomko's driving, they're passing the bridge, and they're gonna get here within five minutes," Miz replied. "Oh, and that Christian thinks I absolutely have to give him a break for taking too damn long."

"Let's just hope they get here soon enough so that nobody's talking about carrying jockstraps," Johnny stated, though at least to Miz he was just thinking aloud.

Meanwhile, back inside the Rose Garden, one of the main topics of discussion was indeed Christian and the Coalition. Particularly, there was a bit of a debate between the ECW New Talent Initiative of Evan Bourne and Ricky Ortiz and the now _former_ WWE Tag Team Champions, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder.

"Dude, you guys so know that you couldn't take Christian's guys on your best day," Curt argued, seriously backing the Coalition, it seemed.

"Really? Cause I remember _beating_ the Miz just about three weeks ago," Evan countered.

"And I was back there cheering Evan on with my Ricky O rally towel. With that kind of talent and support, we proved to them we're the better tag team," Ortiz added, getting seemingly way too cocky with his reasoning.

"The better tag team? Okay, so Ev, you beat one of them in a singles match, but first of all, it was the Miz, getting distracted by Ricky Ortiz pouncing on his boy. When you took on John Morrison, you were laid flat on your back!" Ryder turned the tables, to which he and his partner did that prolonged moaning "OOHHHHHHHHH!" sound people do when they're impressed with a diss.

"Sorry to interrupt, but uh, Hawkins and Ryder, could I have a word with you?" Chris Jericho asked, appearing behind them as the whole thing stopped.

"Yeah, sure, whatever, man," Curt accepted, as Chris led them a few feet away from Bourne and Ortiz. "So, what is it?"

"Guys, let me make this very simple for you. This Christian Coalition that everybody's spending three billion years talking about, I guarantee you two things. One is, they are completely unimpressive. Not a single one of them could actually defeat me on my best day. If a unit stands right up to Christian and his little gang, I guarantee you they will get wiped out. But if they are allowed to run roughshod, unchecked over your show, Smackdown, and all of WWE, they will take over our program with an iron first. It'll be even worse than if Pat Robertson and his Chris-"

"Save it!" Zack instantly yelled, cutting off Jericho's sales pitch. "We're not interested in your little sales pitch."

"'Little sales pitch'? I'm telling you guys right now that if you work with my protégé Lance Cade to take them out, you will become respected as great heroes by many f the stars backstage. Why? Because they've been ruffling a lot of feathers lately. And even if you're not treated as great heroes, you will at least finally be recognized for the fine wrestlers you are," Jericho replied, his counter reasoning apparently planting a seed in Hawkins and Ryder as they had to undergo a little spell of thinking. "Besides, I can tell that ever since Edge and La Familia completely imploded, you two have needed a leader." That automatically ended it, based on their cross expressions. But he didn't get that. "You've been lacking in direction for months, and I'm here to give that back to you."

"You know what? Don't you **ever** compare yourself to Edge," Hawkins then spoke up. "At least he taught us how to be successful. At least he motivated us. At least he got us to see our run-ins and handicap attempts on his behalf as valuable training by having us do just a little bit more. Edge may have been a prick and an asshole, and he may have had a short list of people he actually cared about, but at least we were on that short list. What have you done for Lance Cade but let him stand and watch you glory yourself as this so-called 'honest man'?" He and Zack Ryder then walked off, proud of their ability to tell off Jericho, another trait they'd learned from the Rated-R Superstar. Chris, meanwhile, was now resigning himself to confronting his former friend and his new unit the second they tried to invade Raw.

Speaking of this group…

…back at OTP, Morrison and Miz had already each taken an eighth each of that pizza, leaving only three quarters of it left for the rest of the gang to take in once they finally got here. Morrison was already finished with his slice of pizza, but Miz had one last bit in his hand, which he now took the opportunity to take in. While he was chewing up and finishing the last of what he felt he would need for the day in terms of food, the Chick Magnet was obviously inwardly thinking Christian and the rest should've gotten here by now, considering it's been about five minutes since that last call.

"You know, he pretty much owes me the day now," Miz remarked, eluding to that apparent lateness of Captain Charisma

"Come on, you gotta give it a little more time than that," Johnny said as he took the care to close the pizza box.

"Dude, I'm the Miz. I don't _have_ to do anything," Miz countered harshly, following which the sound of the door opening startled them and caused them to look…

"…yeah, so that's how we ended up proving to the guy that he and his lady could trust us, that we were his true friends," a certain man with short orange-blonde hair was saying to a certain pretty lady with bleach blonde hair, as the two were walking in alongside a certain nodding big man with tattooed arms, a long bears, and a skull cap on his head.

"Took you guys a billion years to get here!" Miz shouted as he and Johnny stood up and went over to meet them, the Shaman being much more reserved about it.

"Yo, Miz! Chill out a little bit, man," Christian calmly persuaded, with his hands up in concession. "Look, I admit it. We took a little too long, and I bet ya already took a couple pieces of that pizza," he continued, this part causing Johnny and Miz to look at one another, "but look. The fact is, we're all here now, right? So, come on. Grab the box and let's go."

"Grab the box and let's go?" Miz asked incredulously, disbelieving that that was all he could say.

"Yeah, I mean, I would think it's no big deal right? See, it's like this; I could just go on a tangent and whine and cry about how Maryse was so busy getting her perfect haircut or Tomko was too lazy to get up off his ass or the traffic on the bridge was a total bitch and that's what caused me to be late, but it's not like I didn't take any extra second to call Denise, so I'm partly to blame on this," Christian continued - as if he could read the Miz's thoughts.

"Denise? Who the he-"

"He's talking about his wife," Tomko explained to Miz, answering his unfinished curious question. Johnny, though, turned around and noticed Kayla the waitress heading over towards their table.

"Oh, hey! Kayla, hold on a minute," Johnny called to her, to which she stopped and faced him. "We're actually gonna be taking that," he said, pointing to the box with the pizza, "but before we do, I wanna give you a 20. Based on the price, tax, and whatever little tip is left courtesy of the Palace of Wisdom, that should be just about enough to cover." He then pulled out the $20 bill and handed it to Kayla.

"Thanks. I'll be seeing you and your friends later tonight," Kayla then declared, which would've surprised the Coalition except…

"You gonna be at the pay-per-view?" Tomko asked, though it was more of a guess deducing what she meant be saying she'd be seeing the gang.

"Oh, heck yeah!" the waitress exclaimed proudly. "You guys are some of my favorites. I got a gang of friends coming to see the show and everything. Matter of fact, I keep having to convince my friends that you guys are gonna make a scene at tonight's pay-per-view. Needless to say, they don't believe me."

"Make a scene?" Maryse asked questioningly, not exactly a big fan of the phrase "make a scene" where "make an impact" would be more appropriate.

"Of course. But they're too skeptical. They keep telling me you don't even have a match, but I know better," Kayla continued confidently, not catching on to that small case of dubious wording. "Seriously! You guys are the Christian Coalition! So I just know you've got something really cool planned for tonight."

"Nice to see a loyal Peep out in the streets of Portland," Christian quickly remarked, though not exactly hiding the pride. "Tell you what; now you just inspired me to think. I didn't wanna burst on and do anything too over-the-top tonight, I still don't, but you kinda inspired me to do a little something. You know?"

"Are you serious? _I_ just inspired _you_ guys?" Kayla asked, sounding a little bit like a fan girl now.

"Uh, yeah, Well, at least me," Christian made sure to point out. "I don't know Miz and J-Mo over here. They're busy holding the pizza box and looking impatient to just get the hell outta here. Not that it's anything to do with you, but I can't blame 'em."

"True point, but we seriously do need to go. We gotta take the pizza back to the arena before it gets cold," Tomko interjected. "I actually ran into Burke and Palumbo. They're waiting for a piece themselves."

"What? You're telling me the two guys that are trying to fill in our spots in ECW are gonna be treated to the same pizza as us?" Miz suddenly inquired in what seemed to be some type of orderly complaint, handing the pizza box to Morrison.

"I'm gonna just assume you were kidding around. I mean, it's just pizza," Maryse stated, to which no one disagreed, even the fan standing before them who was a waitress in the very restaurant where they stood.

"Absolutely true, Maryse. Absolutely true. And yes, I was just kidding around there," Miz agreed and revealed in a stroke before turning to Kayla. "Well, even though you took about as long to get us the pizza as our buddies did to get here, we're glad to know you're a fan."

"Proud to be one," Kayla proclaimed with a smile to indicate that pride.

"Thanks a lot. Well, see ya around, kid. Hope you enjoy the show," Miz said in well-wishing, leading to a short string of goodbyes being exchanged between the rest of the Coalition and a hard working Peep prior to their final departure from this shop.

The drive back to the arena was actually a really jovial one, as Morrison and Miz were regaling in tales of some of their greatest ridicules, even taking the opportunity to rib on an old friend of Christian and Tomko's who called Captain Charisma as he was driving. Of course, there was a limit to how far Christian and Tomko would let Miz and Morrison go with that guy, but all in all, it was actually pretty fun. Maryse actually ended up laughing a little more than she thought she would.

Some 10-15 minutes after leaving Old Town Pizza, Christian's Coalition finally had found their way back to the Rose Garden and into the arena's cafeteria, where, right as they set the pizza down on the table they picked, before they could even sit down and take a bite, suddenly R-Truth was in their midst.

"Hey, Christian!" Truth called, causing Christian and company to turn around.

"Hey, R-Truth, what's up?" Christian greeted, the fact that he just said Truth's hook line not lost on either man.

"Whaassup is we was in the middle of a conversation some nine days ago and you left me hangin'," Truth recalled, to which Christian lightly slapped his own forehead as it started coming to him.

"Oh, yeah! I, uh… I kinda distinctly remember that. Didn't Shelton Benjamin come in and start his own conversation with you?" Christian then asked… though, that wouldn't be accurate, as the asking tone of it was completely sarcasm.

"Start his own conversation? The man came bargin' in in the middle o' our business and start bad-mouthin' me on how I'm a bad influence as a black man. And you went and bailed on me like a lil' bitch," Truth openly bashed Christian to his face while maintaining his cool.

"Uh, what? What'd you just say? Bailed out on you like a little what?" Christian asked again with a sardonic touch. Clearly he wasn't in the mood for this.

"You heard me, dawg. Now let me tell you sum'n. I don't know how they do it up in Canada," Truth explained, immediately catching Christian's annoyed ire, "but where I come from, in the North Cackalackeazy, when a man is talkin' to his homeboy, and some dude comes in and starts talkin' smack to his homeboy, the man is supposed to step up, handle the lightweight, and stand up for his boy. Not just roll on outta there like it ain't his business."

"First of all, _Truth_, I'm not your boy. Our conversation was all about catching up and proving how much greater I am than you. So you might wanna just shut up right there, but in case you can't, I think I'll educate you just a bit," Christian decided, officially tired of the Suntan Superman's line of questioning. "See… somehow, I just knew where all this was going. I could just sense, from the moment you started talking about how I abandoned you in your little struggle with Shelton Benjamin - no, from the very second you came up to my face - that your whole reason for being upset with me was some kind of a macho meathead man-code from the hood. And the second I realized that, your entire argument was thrown out the window in my book. I just baited you into saying it so my Coalition could hear how ridiculous it is. The way I see it, it's just as bad as hurling expletives and damnation judgments at perfectly good people who aren't even hurting anybody just because some religious sense of ideology says their alternative lifestyle makes them evil or their appearance is subhuman. It's completely and totally wrong because it basically says being a hateful snob is cool and it doesn't make a lick o' damn sense!"

"While we're on that token, R-Truth, I'd like to tell you that your conduct is not the least of what we're all about," Johnny cut into the conversation himself, "See, macho man-codes, revengeful zealots, and religious political ideologies are all criteria for an automatic indefinite ban from the Palace of Wisdom. Luckily for you, though, Truth, it's actually perfect for picking a fight. So, let's see here…I'm imagining something. I'm imagining myself, the Miz, and Christian completely kicking the crap out of you, and out of any two partners you decide to put up against us."

"So y'all wanna throw yo' deuces up in the ring tonight?" Truth asked as if to affirm that they wanted a challenge.

"When you think about it, that's actually something that does make sense. A ton of it at that," Christian began his reply, which at that point had R-Truth nodding and grinning with the conclusion that he basically confirmed it… until he continued. "There's only one problem."

"What's that?" Truth asked, the smile immediately leaving his face.

"Nobody in management's gonna think that this is important enough to put my first mach back tonight and take up time on a pay-per-view," Christian explained. "So I was thinking, how 'bout next Friday? How 'bout Smackdown?"

"A'ight, you know what? That's cool. Next Friday, you three against me and any o' my partners? You got it. Just be prepared for me to lay da truth down on all three o' yo' asses," Truth remarked, before walking away. The Christian Coalition members then looked across from him to each other with nearly unified timing.

"He has no idea what he's walking into, does he?" Maryse asked the group, as if this was even a question.

"Nope. He's completely clueless," Miz casually answered, trying to put an arm around Maryse - which she moved off of her while Johnny smirked and held in a chuckle.

"Right into his own death trap," Tomko added, to which his partners looked his way for a follow-up. "Oh, yeah. I say there's gonna be a major beat down in five days."

Speaking of major beatdowns and people walking right into their own death traps, we skip forward some good few hours, all the way into the middle of the actual pay-per-view event itself. Some short time following that match where Kane was supposed to beat Rey Mysterio and force him to unmask but instead opted to leave him damn near knocked out flat on his back with no feeling in his legs by greeting his leap over the top rope onto the outside with a steel chair to the skull, as a matter of fact.

See, while Rey Mysterio was getting taken out of the arena on a stretcher, Montel Vontavious Porter, who had just finished complaining both to his agent and to Big Show about not being booked on the pay-per-view tonight to no avail, decided to make his way out to the ring and demand everybody's attention so as to do some more complaining about not having a match tonight. Randy Orton appeared and called himself the real MVP of the WWE, then tried to sell to Porter that it wasn't Vickie Guerrero's incompetence, which there is plenty of, but MVP's own inability to come out with a win as of late, that's caused him to go on ignored by the program. MVP then argued that since Orton's untouchable edict didn't apply to Smackdown, that he could knock him out and everybody would love it. This led to Team Priceless walking out to the ring, and of course, getting in Randy Orton's face about coasting on his reputation and only getting to kick CM Punk in the head last month because of them.

"You know, guys, I can tell that you've been trying really hard to impress me as of late," Orton remarked, getting right back in the faces of the ambitious trio as they got in his face. "Once you've accomplished even half of what I've done, then maybe, just maybe, I'll start to take you guys a little more seriously."

But even before he could finish that sentence, a certain violin intro came on and blared through the arena, leading to "Just Close Your Eyes", the theme song of Captain Charisma himself! And the fans went on their feet and cheered in appreciation for Christian and his Coalition coming out and getting into the picture. Of course, Christian and Morrison were the ones holding the microphones and playing the main front line as the group stood on the stage and observed the Peepulation in Portland showing their appreciation for Christian. 36 seconds into the song, though, it finally faded out, and Christian finally began to speak.

"Actually… I think it's safe to say that all five of you need to get the hell on out of this ring, because there is nothing impressive about anyone standing in this ring right now," Christian instantly stated, getting cheered for the verbal punishment he was about to deal out. "See, Randy… Teddy… Cody… Manu… the four of you are going about this big giant drama here, and it's all centered around two things: everybody being a second- or third-generation superstar, and taking credit for costing CM Punk his World Heavyweight Championship last month at Unforgiven. And I say, to that end… Randy, just go ahead and share the credit with them for taking out CM Punk. Priceless guys, quit talking about being second- and third-generational and simply accept the fact that Randy Orton is simply better than all three of you and only one of you can even carry his jockstrap right now, and maybe you'll end up having yourselves a good functioning faction."

"Hey! I have a question for you, Christian! Who in the hell is your father?" Manu immediately asked, going back to the Priceless calling card only to a chorus of boos. "Last I checked, your father, unlike ours and Randy's, was not one of the greatest wrestlers in the history of this company or this business. As a matter of fact, I don't even think your dad was a decent wrestler."

"You know what, kid? You're right. While you guys came from generations of fathers and grandfathers who in their heyday were among the greatest of all time, my father wasn't even a wrestler," Christian conceded, though this was only slight. "On the other hand, think of it this way: at least my father didn't run around like something that came out of the wilderness in an attempt to connect himself with his Samoan nature in the ring, only to see his son insist on dressing, and looking, but not acting, the part. At least my father didn't figure out how to both buy and work his way to the top only to see his son claim to be rebellious and priceless while actually needing, ironically, to listen to Randy Orton to grow a spine. And at least my father didn't work so hard to fulfill the American Dream, only to see his son try to impress the very same soullessly cold viper of a person that terrorized them both just over a year ago! See, my father worked an honest living up in Canada, and he helped raise a son who grew up to become 'Captain Charisma' Christian, a conquering hero who will soon be acknowledged and finally respected as the biggest star in this industry!" And immediately, the cheers of respect that freeze scene for a few seconds came. Though there were a few boos mixed in the middle because his ego was showing.

"You know, that's true, that's true, but uh… why is it that all you've done since you've come back is run your mouth and get involved in the better part of one beating?" Randy then asked them, only to receive a chorus of boos. "Now, before you mention me, unlike you, I actually have good a reason for that. My reason is that I have a thirst to make an impact that I can't just sit down at home and let bubble, but I'm not medically cleared to compete, so this is the next best way to make myself known.

"And clearly Christian has an even better reason. It's called recruiting. You might wanna look into it sometime, it actually explains all of us standing here with the man," Morrison pointed out, shutting Orton up effectively to the approval of the crowd.

"Hey, John!" MVP then decided to interject his way into the conversation. "First of all, you might wanna keep quiet, because already it sounds like you're blowin' smoke up Christian's sorry ass behind."

"First of all, I'm just stating facts. Second of all, how would you know the condition of his behind?" Johnny then asked, the innuendo not lost on the shout-moaning audience, the laughing wrestlers on both sides, and the absolutely shock-faced Franchise Player.

"That… that's just cold, bro, but I guess since I just walked into that one, I'm gon' just let it slide for now," MVP stated, somewhat managing to shrug off what just happened after a few seconds. "But you know, you shouldn't be talkin' like that about somebody else, considerin' you and Miz keep tellin' everybody how y'all for some sorta sex appeal and how you're capable of gratin' cheese on your abs."

"Well, to answer that, we have eyewitnesses that can testify to the fact that the ladies are all over us. And by the way, a lot more than you," Morrison replied, still cool about it as ever. "As far as the grating cheese part? Well, if my abs are a mutant, that's their mutant power and no one else's." On that note, he lifted his shirt up to show his rock solid abs briefly, which got all the girls screaming. Thus proving all of his points. "See, it's quite a known fact that John Morrison doesn't have washboard abs: washboards have John Morrison ridges. Thus making it no surprise that as the Shaman of Sexy, I can have such powers."

"There you go again talkin' about yourself as the Shaman of Sexy. As far as I'm concerned, John-boy, you're not the Shaman of Sexy. You're the Shaman of Dumb!" MVP retorted, another major diss taken with a major reaction. "You know what? I'm sick and tired o' listenin' to you dumb asses, so even if Randy Orton can't join us, Team Priceless and I would happily get out of this ring, come up that ramp, and beat all o' y'all into next week in front of Maryse, so she can see that I am the man she needs to be flockin' behind! Not Christian, not the rest o' you, nor anybody else, but me!"

"'Team Priceless and I'? Is that what you just said?" Cody Rhodes suddenly spoke up, having taken the Priceless microphone. "Excuse me, _Montel Roster Williams_, but as much as we would love to kick Christian's ass along with the rest of his annoying followers, why would we want to be in league with a loser like you?" Mixed reactions abound, though mainly boos, came of this. "I mean, let's face it. You can't win a match, you're completely lost without the United States Championship, the most memorable thing about you as of late when you got embarrassed by Triple H, and much like Christian and his entire Coalition, you have an absolute nobody for a father. As far as we're concerned, you're not even in our league."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up. Not in your league?" MVP questioned now. "Excuse me for tryin' to get sum'n done out here, but it's _you_ guys, plus Christian's Coalition, plus each every single one o' these fans, who is not in _my_ league!" And with that, he just became public enemy number one, and the sounds in the background told him so. "I am the highest paid superstar in the **history** of Smackdown! I make more money than everybody out here combined!"

"Really? You do?" Ted DiBiase stepped up to ask, now having the floor, and surprisingly enough, the audience on his side. "Well, let me tell you something. My father is the original Ted DiBiase. He's the Million Dollar Man! The last time I've had to worry about money is… well… never!"

Before anything else could go on, however, "This Fire Burns" recognized as the theme song of former World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk, suddenly came blaring on, and the crowd went off its feet!

"Looks like that's our cue to leave, but you know… somehow, I really don't think this is gonna end well for you guys," Christian stated, before he and Morrison dropped their mikes and walked off along with the rest of the Coalition. Some ten seconds later, as Orton, MVP, and Team Priceless were staring at the ramp, the four of them that were healthy ended up turning around and being attacked by CM Punk, Kofi Kingston, and Cryme Tyme! The attacks had the new renegade intruders punches their victims back into the ropes, irishwhipping them, hitting them with a move, and chasing them as the scurried on out of the ring, while Randy Orton just quietly walked out the whole time, just to stand on the ramp and observe the debacle as Punk's music went on again. Later on, Kofi and Cryme Tyme would end up having fun with the WWE Divas at the expense of JBL's ownership of his limousine - the perfect payback for praising a certain bailout package that ended up giving more money to rich folks like himself and companies that got America into its current economic mess.

Minutes after Undertaker got knocked out by the Big Show again, except this time one on one in a match, and Taker looked more out of it physically than he would have liked to let on, Christian and the Coalition were at the door of their locker room, when suddenly…

"Hey, guys! Wait a second!" called someone who was actually running over to them. That someone would be Raw's General Manager, Mike Adamle. "Christian, as the General Manager of Monday Night Raw, I want to be the first from my show to welcome you back to the WWE."

"Well, thanks, Mike. I'm… pretty honored to be welcomed back by a General Manager, as opposed to being summoned to the principal's office, or illegally thrown out of the arena without even doing anything. But I'm pretty sure that's not the only thing you came to tell me. Now can you please get it out, and uh, make sure you… make yourself clear this time?" Christian asked after a slight acknowledgement, making it clear his patience was not eternal.

"Okay. Well, here's the news. I just got off the phone from talking to Shane and Stephanie McMahon, and they wanted me to tell you that you have been invited to Raw tomorrow night so you can be part of a special announcement," Mike informed him. "So, do you think you can make it?"

"My contract, which Shane McMahon himself signed, says we could show up anyway even when I'm not invited and you can't do anything about it. So now that we've been invited by Shane McMahon himself-"

"Along with his hot sister Stephanie, of course," Miz predictably cut into it.

"Thanks for that comment, but Stephanie's looks are not important here," Tomko immediately responded to that. "What's important is… yeah. We'll be there."

"Thank you so much, guys. I'll be looking forward to seeing the Christian Coalition appear together on Monday Night Raw for the first time ever. Have a good night, guys," Adamle said, bidding them farewell as he went on his merry way.

"Right back at ya. Make sure you keep you job 'til tomorrow, Mike. It wouldn't be as good if we couldn't see ya," Christian replied, adding a little wit, which only Tomko vocally backed with a short "Yeah." Meanwhile, Christian opened the door and turned to the others. "Well, come on. Let's go in already, we got a couple of world title matches to catch."

And in they went, watching the world title matches intently, as they studied both the losing challengers, Jeff Hardy and Shawn Michaels, and the successfully defending WWE and World Heavyweight Champions, Triple H and Chris Jericho. Jericho, of course, finished off his victory in the main event ladder match against Michaels with a little help from Cade and a warrior's lady luck on his side. Christian even briefly ended up throwing on a smirk at seeing the success and method of his old friend.

-

A/N: For the record, the Kayla scene did not create a new recurring character. Unless there's a Smackdown in Portland, Oregon between No Mercy and WrestleMania, the redheaded waitress named Kayla will probably never appear in this story again.

Oh, and if I could please get some thoughts from you guys? You know… in the form of reviews? That would just be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


	7. Working Plotlines

_**State of Takeover: Cause That's How I Roll!**_ by Instant Classic Superstar Pac

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and this is not linked to any of my other stories.

Rating: T

Summary: Right as she declares unfinished business, Captain Charisma suddenly returns and is talking to her. The result is the first seed of a new Coalition set to turn the world upside down. (Christian, Maryse, Tomko, Morrison, Miz, and an eventual pairing.)

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NOTE: Once again, I feel like I took a bit too long. But this is actually a chapter of many parts, so I hope you guys can enjoy the material I got here.

Well, no sense in wasting time. Read on, peoples.

**Chapter 7: Working Plotlines**

_Part 1_

_Event Date: Monday, October 6, 2008_

Location: taking a drive in Seattle, WA

On their way to KeyArena in Seattle, where tonight's Raw was to be held, the Christian Coalition were riding down I-5 in a maroon Range Rover Sport, a good five-seat ride. While Christian was doing the driving and Tomko constantly switching between rock and hip hop music stations on the car radio every 5-10 minutes as soon as he heard a song he didn't like, Miz and Maryse were chatting it up in the back… well, actually, more like he was trying to impress her with tales of his reality show adventures from before coming to the WWE, and she was playing along so as not to crush his little heart. Next to them, specifically to Miz, who insisted on taking the middle seat, was his tag team partner John Morrison, sporting brown shades, and white sweater with some sweet black designs on it, blue jeans, a headset over his ears as he listened to some music of his own, and of course, the usual slick, smooth, and relaxed attitude that usually came with Johnny at times like this, when he wasn't exactly doing anything.

A lot of people knew that John Morrison was the Shaman of Sexy, the man of the hour, with all of the Palace of Wisdom's esteemed power, and of course, the possible secret member of the X-Men whose mutant power involved having abs sharper in tone and quality than even washboard ridges. Of course, that's the kind of power the ladies love, but that didn't mean he exposed his abs even when it didn't do him any benefit. No, he wasn't a guy who did things with pointless frivolousness like that. As a matter of fact, many people who have known him outside of the public eye could attest to the statement that Johnny was surprisingly more of a thinker than a lot of the fans typically pegged him for.

Sure, he was easily comfortable and very prone to cracking a joke or to flaunting himself whenever he was either in a bar or in the ring - that wasn't a fake part of him at all. But when he wasn't involved in any of those scenes, working out in a gym, hanging out with friends, or adding material to his MySpace page or blog, or even now when he was simply taking in a drive and nobody was talking to him, John Morrison liked to just sit back, relax, and reflect. It was one of those rare things about him that he felt set him apart from all those other guys who claimed to have his status or to be on his level - especially when he did it through meditation at the Palace of Wisdom, the remodeled version of his huge all-purpose two-story six-bedroom house in Los Angeles which he hasn't exactly had the chance to retreat to all that much over the past week or so. Just ask his close friends who've known him for awhile, such as the person who he was actually thinking about right now. Someone he's known since just before he actually earned himself a WWE contract. His ex-girlfriend. Melina.

Melina was - no, is - a beautiful woman, and a very talented and dedicated wrestler. Same as John himself, except if one replaces "beautiful woman" with "rock solid handsome man".. Which is why, especially in his Johnny Nitro state, it was easy for the two of them to get attracted to one another. They both had the looks. They both had the passion. They both had the ability. And in hindsight, they both had terrific futures in store. And despite them coming off as snobbish and distant a lot of the time when they were rolling together with the red carpets, and especially when they were with Joey Mercury, they actually were a lot more capable of letting loose and enjoying life together than a lot of people thought. Joey a cool cat they had taken a shine to when they were honing their craft in Ohio Valley. He was decent in the ring, as the trio had managed a brightly shining run on Smackdown, but beyond that he really wasn't destined to go anywhere. Sad, really. Mercury was a cool guy, with somewhat comparable abs to the former Nitro, but he didn't really have a lot of upside to keep hanging around.

Right now he was listening to Kid Rock's "All Summer Long", which was actually fitting considering the theme of a man reminiscing on a past love from his youth. Meanwhile, he knew Melina was somewhere back in California herself, recovering from her ankle injury. He knew she'd be back soon enough, as that was a strong, determined woman he recollected memories of being with. One part about John's run with Melina that kind of stood out for him was… no, not the three tag team title reigns she managed him to with Joey. Nor as it the Women's Championship victories she got or the Intercontinental titles he won. Nor was it even the iconic moment where the two of them actually ended up standing side by side with fellow "friends of Foley" Edge and Lita. It was actually that primal scream she developed. He considered that scream a special quirk of their relationship and honestly took it as a great motivator. Not to say he never managed to hear it without being turned on, but to be frank, hearing that scream and not getting inspired to satisfy her in the ring now and in the sheets a little later was not a combination that occurred often.

There were two notable moments where they had problems. Once, she had tried to soften up Batista into stopping a tag team title match against MNM. That was not the problem. The problem was she tried to do it by actually having sex with the Animal, not to mention it didn't soften him up at all - if anything, it actually energized and hardened the big ape for the task of taking away the tag straps along with "Rey Mucha Lucha". Of course, Melina called sexual harassment and got Mark Henry to help get MNM back the belts and finish off Batista for a short while. Plus, when Melina told Nitro what happened, Mercury was there to fan the flames before they even became public.

The other problem would happen over a year later - she became absorbed and obsessed with her reputation, thinking it more important than the huge endeavors he had lost a chance to get involved in at WrestleMania 23. One night, the whining got so bad he simply commanded her to shut up, then forewent a match against Super Crazy just to beat the crap out of the guy. From there, the relationship… well, it didn't exactly crumble, but clearly the spark that the two had felt for one another, had taken second place to each's own individual ambitions. Before the big breakup born and made to ruin every strand of a good thing they ever had with each other could materialize, however, they decided to break it off cordially and privately, remaining good friends.

While the old flame wasn't exactly rekindling at all, he couldn't help the fond recall or the gratitude he felt at the fact that they were still capable of hanging out and talking whenever need be. The song was approaching its three-and-a-half minute mark, and even though he knew reaching her would be as easy as getting the others to come down to LA or waiting until she got better and visiting Raw or pay-per-views as a member of the Coalition, he couldn't help but to softly utter the phrase at the same time as Kid Rock: "Man, I'd like to see that girl again."

"Yeah, and that's how- huh? What was that?" Miz suddenly sopped in his tales, turning to Morrison as he heard him speaking indistinctly.

"What was what?" John asked as he turned to Miz and Maryse, taking his headset off.

"Uh… did you say something?" Miz asked back.

"Uh… no, I don't think so. Why?" John asked, apparently unaware of the fact that he uttered the last of his thoughts aloud.

"I thought I just heard you saying som…" Miz stopped again, though this time it wasn't a sudden stop. He actually paid close attention to the song he could hear coming out of Morrison's headset. "'All Summer Long', huh? You reminiscing on a high school sweetheart or… wait a minute, you're thinking about Melina!" Yes, folks, it finally hit him.

"Congrats, Miz. You figured me out. You gonna grow a new rumor mill out of it or can I actually think about a former significant other in peace?" Johnny then questioned, offering both a sarcastic suggestion and a legitimate one. It didn't take a rocket genius to figure out which was which. Nonetheless, Miz was almost ready to vocally go with option A just to tease him about apparently still being in love with Melina - which, considering Maryse took to herself as the Sexiest of the Sexy, would probably not have gone over well. The key word here, though, was "almost". Almost, because Morrison never once lost his cool. Almost, because Morrison did not retort any slower or faster than he usually does. Almost, because he sounded as matter-of-fact as always, not a touch of defensiveness coming over him. So, of course, Miz decided…

"I think we can drop this."

"Good," Morrison accorded in one quick and smooth stroke, before turning to the large and tattooed front passenger who along with Christian was practically forgotten. "Yo, Tomko! Think you can get the rock mix we worked on and play number 3?"

"Yeah, I think it's already in right now," the Problem Solver turned around and told him.

"It's already in? And you spent all that time fumbling through channels on the radio?" Maryse questioned, throwing on a sardonic chuckle as Tomko simply ignored her.

"Uh, Maryse, I kinda requested to listen to a balance of both hip hop and rock," Christian stated instead in the Problem Solver's defense.

"Well, couldn't you get one of those radios that lets you put in multiple CDs at once?" Miz then inquired himself.

"There's car radios like that?" Christian asked.

"I don't know, man. If there are, then they must cost a motherload of cash," Morrison guessed, as Tomko could finally relax - having finally tuned the car radio over to the CD that was inside, specifically to the Hawthorne Heights song "This Is Who We Are".

_Part 2_

_Event Date: Monday, October 6, 2008_

Location: KeyArena, Seattle, WA

Off the heels of No Mercy, Monday Night Raw was stacked with more of the same on one end of things, and on the other end, with excitement. While Chris Jericho had managed to retain his World Heavyweight Championship against Shawn Michaels due to some help from the transplanted Jerichoholic Lance Cade, and Batista predictably defeat John Bradshaw Layfield to become the 1 contender to that title for the upcoming pay-per-view Cyber Sunday, the fact is, we were talking about Cyber Sunday. Which meant the fans were going to have a hand in voting for something related to that match. It certainly wasn't the opponent, which was already decided last night. And apparently, General Manager Mike Adamle had some huge announcement regarding this match. So what exactly was going to be happening in all this?

Come nine o'clock, and the usual Raw intro video, there was no opening pyro, nor was there any huge amount of billing being done to future program matches. Instead, Mike Adamle was standing in the middle of the ring with his glasses on, a mike in one hand, and a clipboard in the other hand.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to WWE Monday Night Raw!" Adamle greeted everybody, getting cheered almost to the T. Greetings was just about the only thing he could be guaranteed to do right. "Now, ladies and gentlemen, we all know about our main event for the Cyber Sunday pay-per-view event coming up in three weeks. Specifically, we know who will be in that match, and we know what that match will be for. This match will be for the World Heavyweight Championship, and it will be between the current reigning champion Chris Jericho," he paused for the boos to come of that name, "and the number one contender, Batista." Another pause, this time for an ensemble of approval. "So that takes us to what exactly will be the base on which the WWE Universe will be getting asked to vote that will affect the due course of this match. Well, ladies and gentlemen…"

But before Mike Adamle could go any further, that familiar tunnel countdown started, until it fizzled out after zero, leading to those same familiar fireworks, and that same familiar theme - the latest version of the WWE-composed Adam Morenoff song "Break Down The Walls", which was, of course, the theme for the World Heavyweight Champion, the Illumining Savior himself, Chris Jericho.

Coming out in a dapper pinstripe suit with the big gold belt around his waist, Jericho looked like he was dressed to stage a party in celebration of his own. But his serious face and boring walk down the ramp, up the steps, and through the ropes into the ring indicated that he was not ready to celebrate. As he looked out into the jeering crowd of former Jerichoholics he personally viewed as hypocrites, the Ayatollah finally took the microphone out of his pants pocket and held it up to his mouth, the cue for the voices to stop talking.

"You know, I thought that we'd been over this about three thousand times, Mike," Jericho started, "but the fact is, since we're out here, and since I can tell you're already about to make yet another cockamamie biased decision against me in the hopes of me losing my World Heavyweight Championship so you don't have to take care of me - as if me losing the title means you're never gonna have to take care of your champion again, which we all know you will if you wanna keep your job - I felt I needed to remind you. I am the most precious commodity on this show. I am the World Heavyweight Champion. I am the leader of Monday Night Raw. I call the shots, and the entire WWE Universe, including you who officially runs this damn thing as the General Manager, have the right, the responsibility, and the duty to respect **me**." And immediately, Jericho was met with jeers for opening his mouth in his holier-than-thou tone.

"See, last night, I went through a hellacious ladder match against Shawn Michaels, where we both beat each other down, battered each other, bruised each other… basically, we left each other looking like hell. For crying out loud, ladies and gentlemen, I even lost a tooth last night," Jericho recalled, this piece of it all actually earning some approval and respect from the crowd. "However, at the end of it, just as it looked like Shawn was about to pull another rabbit out of the bad, just as it looked like he was about to win, I bravely stood, clawed, scratched, and fought my way back into the ring and up the ladder, snatched the sweet essence of victory from the jaws of defeat in a match where I was supposedly never to stand a chance, and continue to stand before you as the World Heavyweight Champion." Boos came at him from all edges again.

"Now, Mike Adamle… you plan on making some huge announcement as it relates to Cyber Sunday. You know, the pay-per-view where the fans can influence an aspect of the match in any way they so choose," Jericho took another pause, this one reeling in cheers as the fans liked the choice aspect they had about the PPV that Chris just reminded them of. "Well, I have a huge problem with that." Right away, the arena struck back with jeering all over. "You see, these fans, these people, they're nothing but a bunch of hypocrites. They are liars, they are dregs, they are conniving sycophants who constantly feel the need to be pandered to or to have their asses kissed. Boxing fans don't require it. NBA fans don't require it. NFL fans don't require it. Major League Baseball fans don't require it. They _encourage_ their favorite teams to be the quintessential friendly heroes to them, but Lord knows they don't require it. Only you idiots in the WWE Universe would require…"

And immediately, Chris's ramblings were cut off by "Just Close Your Eyes", the entrance theme of Christian! As Christian came out, leading his Coalition, the group all casually dressed, he decided for them all to go on ahead and walk down the ramp. They didn't exactly come down making a ton of gestures, and the only one that went to the steel steps and entered the ring was Christian - the others stood at ringside to provide backup and moral support. As soon as Christian came into the ring, he got on a turnbuckle and pointed a kiss to the peeps, before coming down and getting his microphone, allowing the music to stop.

However, he couldn't exactly speak so quickly. He had to take about 10-15 seconds because there was a chant building up in the arena, simply of the name "Christian!".

"I couldn't help but notice, Chris, that you were out here constantly over-rambling again, making yourself sound like some sort of a triple time broken record in an effort to claim some form of omnipotent greatness or something," Christian noted, to absolute cheers of approval. "But you see, you and I… well, in a way, we are birds of a feather. See, we both have friends. We both have huge egos. And we both have the ability and the willingness to do whatever it takes to win. But you see, here's the most key difference between us. The biggest telling point that separates Christian from Chris Jericho. And that is, every time I come in the ring, I don't spend all the time in the world dissing these fans like there's nothing better to do." And again the arena came vocally on his side.

"See, I'm wise to the fact that these fans can easily choose to cheer or boo ya at any given time. Trust me. I've been there on both sides of the coin," the Captain continued. "I've been the guy they've called a future great, and I've been the one they've called a cheating chump. And trust me, we've had a ton of history to attest to that fact for you and me both. But you see, unlike you, who chooses to dump on the fans 24/7, and unlike people such as, let's say… John Cena, who get all their abilities from pandering to the crowd at all times, I actually choose to not care whether or not they cheer me or boo me anymore. Because the way I see it, no matter what reaction they're giving me, the fact is they're giving me a reaction. And that's why the Christian Coalition is neither a collection of good guys, nor a faction of bad guys - we are simply human, and we are simply real!"

"You say you don't care about your reactions from the crowd, but you constantly call them your 'peeps'. How in the living hell can you justify yourself for that, you hypocrite?" Jericho immediately questioned in his reply, getting booed for using that word again. "I always knew that you were a liar, Christian, and that's the only thing that you've just proven to me."

"No, that's not what I've just proven to you. What I've just proven to you is that while I don't care about dictating what the fans do or don't say about me, I do respect the fact that they paid good money to have the right to come in here and say it!" Christian countered right back, resulting in more cheers. "I change my style according to my opponents, not them, but I respect the fact that this is their right! And I realize that as long as they're using that right, that means they're takin' notice of me and what I'm doing in this ring, and that tells me two things."

"And what could those be?" Jericho asked again, the clear disdain showing in his voice.

"Number one, it tells me that I've got their attention somehow, which must mean I'm doing something right. Number two, it tells me what I've been saying all along for the last five years whether they've cheered me or booed me, and that is this: _these, are my, __**peeps**__!_" Christian strongly declared, the backing of the fans' cheers telling him he was definitely doing something right!

"You know what? I look at you, I see your philosophy, and quite frankly it sickens me," Jericho responded not too kindly to Christian, the fans responding not too kindly to Chris in return. "You are so blinded by your own charisma and your own ability to talk, that you fail to understand, just like these hypocrites and liars fail to understand, that what you are saying is wrong. You are not doing anything right by trying to force the people to be on both sides of you. The only way you could tell me that you are in the right is to beat me one on one in a match for this." Stopping on that note, to demonstrate what "this" is, he took the World Heavyweight Championship off his waist and raised it high in the air, typically flaunting it in front of Christian, the Coalition, and all the rest of his peeps. "Because of this, you have no choice to acknowledge that I am in the right. That everything I have been saying, is true. I told people that I would beat the holy living hell out of Shawn Michaels time after time after time, and time after time after time and again, I did that. I told people that I would persevere and that I would come out on top at Unforgiven, and I did that. I told people at No Mercy that I would prove that I am better in the ladder match than Shawn Michaels, and guess what? I did that. Because of all that, now, I'm standing here, I stand before you with this World Heavyweight Championship. You are forced to admit that I am the best, and there is nothing you, your charisma, your ability to talk, your friends at ringside, or even your great esteemed "peeps" can even successfully think to do about it."

"You know, Chris, I beg to differ. Perhaps, there is something that Christian can do about it," the General Manager finally spoke up, earning cheers of respect for this. "Now, while I can't very well book you and Christian to be opponents tonight, seeing as how you are already in a tag tea match with Kane against Rey Mysterio and Batista, I can allow for next week's card to have en opening for the two of you to be involved in a match, if it's okay with you, of Christian's choosing. I was also going to reveal the factor that the fans could vote on regarding your World Heavyweight Championship match against Batista, but since we've had so many interruptions, I figure we could actually save that for the end of the night, after your big match. I'll be back out here later tonight, and Christian; don't leave yet. I think you might have a vested interest in what I have to say."

On that note, as the Raw theme went on, Adamle left the ring the very same way he had come in before we went on the air, the steps and the ropes, and waved to Christian's Coalition as he walked past them and got up the ramp. Speaking of the Coalition, Christian looked back and forth from them to Jericho, after jawing a little bit off-mike with the World Champion, left the ring himself, as he and the rest of the gang started to talk about what just happened, slowly going up the ramp themselves.

Some twenty minutes later, Shawn Michaels had just had a match against Chris Jericho's protégé Lance Cade in which he absolutely just beat the holy crap out of him, and Christian's Coalition was talking amongst themselves.

"We still have no idea what Adamle was talking about, do we?" Tomko asked the others.

"Nope. Still as murky as ever to me. Why would we have a 'vested interest' in something that has to do with Raw's World Title? We're Smackdown guys," Miz pointed out, the whole thing just seeming a little suspicious to him.

"Pardon the interruption," someone started, who the Coalition turned to see was Cody Rhodes, with his Priceless partners Ted DiBiase and Manu, "but we couldn't help but notice to see you idiots walking around here like you own the place. I mean, this is Raw, not Smackdown. And we know that you can't be kicked out due to the arena due to that ridiculous permissible entry clause in Christian's contract, but we would be more than willing to take you on in a match and beat you to within an inch of your lives."

"Uh… don't you three have CM Punk and Cryme Tyme later tonight?" Christian pointed out in reply, not at all concerned with Team Priceless.

"Wait just a second, Christian. I got this," Johnny replied, stepping up to the faces of the Priceless boys. "Okay, so let me get this straight. You guys claim that you're better than everyone else because you have famous fathers?"

"Yes, and that's more than a valid point, because we are even better and more talented than our deservedly famous fathers," DiBiase proclaimed, getting jeered for it.

"That's all well and good, that's fine, but… by your logic, wouldn't you guys be even fatter than your fathers as well?" Johnny pointed out. The Priceless boys immediately got pissed off, and Cody was prepared to beat on Morrison right there, but Ted and Manu were coherent enough to hold Rhodes back. "That's what I thought. In any case, it doesn't take a famous father to look and act the part of a true sex symbol, an outstanding wrestling talent, and a deep thinker. It takes the simple greatness that is John Morrison. You know, if it wasn't for the match you guys have tonight, I'd happily invest in teaming with my buddies the Miz and Travis Tomko to kick your asses. Luckily for yourselves, you do. So if it's all kosher with the three of you, since we're gonna be here next week in Anaheim anyway, we can invest in that beat down then."

"You know what? That sounds like a plan? But don't expect us to be the ones gettin' beat down," Manu retorted while at the same time accepting Morrison's challenge.

"That's funny, cause I thought for sure that's what we should be expecting," Tomko countered right back.

"We will take care of this in the ring next week," Ted damn near shouted immediately, so as to keep a fight from breaking out right then and there. "Guys, let's just get outta here."

"Sounds good," Cody accorded, as the three multi-generational superstars left. Christian watched them leave longer than anyone else, then turned to Morrison.

"Nice job," he commended. "I like your style. But the key thing is, next week, the three of you have one thing left to do, and that's back it up." Morrison and Miz then put a hand on each of his shoulders and gave this note of reassurance:

"Don't worry about it."

Later on tonight, towards the ending of that main event tag team match of Jericho and Kane against Mysterio and Batista, Kane was up on the top turnbuckle, stalking away at Rey Mysterio, who was just getting up and turning around. As Kane then went for his flying monste clothesline, Rey rolled forward to escape it, causing Kane to dive on his knees and roll back to his feet without hitting anybody. Both men quickly up, Kane dashed at Mysterio, who took advantage to hurricanrana him just right so that he fell throat first into the middle rope. The Biggest Little Man then screamed out to the crowd, before running off the opposite ropes in the hopes of doing the 619… but Jericho tripped him up, dragged him down to the outside, picked him up, and then dragged and sent him right into the security railing. Batista saw this and came down to go after Mr. Jericho, but Chris was able to keep enough distance running away in order to be able to get him into the ring and in the direction of Kane - who suddenly grabbed Batista by the throat and choke slammed him! Kane then went for the cover. 1, 2, but Batista kicked out! Kane, angry, started walking towards the referee and yelling at him, but took enough time for Batista to get up and seize him up for a spear. Not stupid enough to get caught, Kane allowed Batista to run over to him, but then kicked him right in the head, stopping him flat in his tracks. Kane then took a few seconds and went down to pick up the Animal, only to find his arms jerked away mid-motion and himself caught in Batista's Leviathan spine buster! The number one contender to the World Heavyweight Title then shook the ropes Ultimate Warrior style, not even realizing that Chris Jericho had just found a steel chair underneath the ring. Jericho found his opportunity as Batista struggled to set Kane up under him for the Batista Bomb, taking that exact perfect moment to sneak into the ring and whack Batista from behind with a steel chair!

This easily forced referee Mike Chioda to ring the bell for a disqualification, but Jericho didn't care about that, the crowd's boos, or the vitriolic screaming of Michael Cole at the announce table, as he hit Batista a couple more times with the chair. Rey Mysterio, whose head was actually still more than groggy from getting his head chaired in by Kane last night, let alone the punishment he took in this match, managed to try to get on the apron and jump on top of the ropes, but as soon as he did and Jericho saw him, Chris attacked his lower leg with a chair, causing him to fall right on his head.

But before he could commit even more damage unto anybody else, Shawn Michaels came running down the ramp and into the ring, the cheers causing Jericho to notice him and run straight out, with Shawn stuck between threatening to take Chris's head off and going down to tend to Rey and Batista.

"Well, it looks like we're at that point in the program, ladies and gentlemen, where I now reveal myself," a certain managerial and somewhat monotonous voice uttered, leading people to look up the ramp and see Mike Adamle himself again. "See, this is the kind of chaos that Shane and Stephanie McMahon, along with myself, were hoping to be able to avoid come your World Heavyweight Championship match at Cyber Sunday. So Shane gave me a call last night during the program, and we were discussing just what kind of measure we could use that hasn't been used prominently in a while that can ensure order. The conclusion we came to, was that this match needs a guest referee." And right away, the fans shouted in approval as Jericho's complaining gave no indication that he would go for any of this!

"But not only could we have a guest referee, we could actually create a match out of it," Adamle continued. "See, we have four options, four names, that came to mind, that these fans, the WWE Universe, will be able to vote for. And obviously, the top vote getter will be the special guest referee. But on a side note, if the second and third contender are men that will be able to compete, they will have a match against each other right after your title match, Chris, but before the WWE Heavyweight Championship match from Smackdown." Fans showed their liking yet again for what was apparently, though not explicitly stated as, an Adamle Original idea. "And the guest referee options that the people will vote for are… I need one of four drum rolls, please." A sound effect drum roll played on for about five seconds, before Adamle revealed…

"'The Legend Killer' Randy Orton!"

This caused Rev Theory's "Voices", Orton's theme music to go on, and the crowd to be caught in a good mixed reaction of cheers and jeers. After twenty seconds and a look into Randy's locker room to reveal absolute apathy and disconcert on his face, the music died out and Adamle asked for another drum roll. He received it, and after another five seconds revealed the identity of the next guest referee:

"'The Heartbreak Kid' Shawn Michaels!"

As Shawn Michaels' "Sexy Boy" came on, Michaels looked shocked at first, but as everybody shouted in his favor, he began to realize what this meant. He was going to be in the same ring with Chris Jericho again. Chris especially was shaking his head, backing up the ramp, clutching the World Title, and repeating the word "no" in total fright and fear, as Shawn had caught on quickly enough to give an oddly devilish grin the champion's way before his theme faded out after 20 seconds. Adamle then asked for a third drum roll, after which he continued with the rolling of major names.

"As requested by Shane McMahon himself… 'Captain Charisma' Christian!"

The crowd was now damn near ready to explode now, knowing that Captain Charisma was not going to be partial to Chris Jericho or even Batista. But the Coalition themselves, watching from the back, were looking shocked, confused, bewildered, perplexed… come up with anything along those lines, cause Smackdown's Christian had just been named a possible special referee for a Raw main event at a pay-per-view! Of course, twenty seconds, the musical fadeout, and a final drum roll. This time, though, he actually paused some extra seconds after the drum roll, before finally telling Chris Jericho and the world that the fourth guest referee option for Chris Jericho vs. Batista at Cyber Sunday was…

"'Stone Cold' Steve Austin!"

And as the glass shattered, so did the people's inhibitions. KeyArena practically erupted in cheers, especially as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin himself actually did come out, walk down right past the elated Adamle and the shocked frozen Jericho with a pat on the back for the both of them, go up the steps, cross the ropes, enter the ring, get on the turnbuckles, raise his arms up high with the middle fingers out as usual, then call for a couple Steveweisers. After receiving them, He then turned around and finally faced his former foe Shawn Michaels, who was also in the ring, and offered him a Steveweiser. Michaels took it, and they had a toast after opening the cans. Both men then started doing a little drinking, but then Austin turned around and kicked Michaels in the gut before giving him a Stunner! Steve then kicked Shawn's Stevewiser out of the ring, finished his own, then went on a turnbuckle and called for another couple Stevewisers to get thrown his way. He broke those two open with a self toast, then chugged them both down at once, before once again going on another turnbuckle and doing the middle finger arms high salute, all to the biggest cheers of the night, as the show went off the air! Christian's Coalition, meanwhile, left unseen. Not that there was anything wrong with that.

_Part 3_

_Event Date: Wednesday, October 8, 2008_

Location: Chinatown in Oakland, CA

"Okay, now please tell us why exactly we're just walking around in Oakland's Chinatown, for God's sake?" Miz asked, questioning of Christian as the five Coalition members were doing just that. "We could be hanging out at the Palace of Wisdom right now. Who the hell would want to meet us here?"

"Somebody who realizes the hard streets of West Oaktown are not as safe a bet as Chinatown Oaktown," Christian replied. Of course, he knew Miz wasn't just complaining about the Chinatown thing. It was also due to the fact that Christian wasn't telling anybody who he was talking about. Though Tomko knew he was in a phone conversation with whoever this person was after they got back to the hotel post-Raw Monday night.

"Well, can you at least give us a small clue as to who it is?" Johnny then inquired.

"Let's just say, even though we're a one of kind team, they remind me of us," Christian explained… as much as something vague like that can be an explanation. Suddenly, though, the door of a restaurant behind them was opened, and right afterwards, someone called out, "Hey!"

And that's when Christian turned around and saw her in all her leggy blonde awesomeness.

"Hey, Chantelle!" he called, as he and the young lady walked over to each other and met midway with a brief embrace. The others, clearly interested now as they somewhat recognized her as well, went over as well.

"How's everything going?" Christian then asked the girl, who appeared to be in her twenties, as the rest of his team was now right

"It's all peachy with us," Chantelle answered. "I see you brought your crew here."

"Absolutely. Had to bring 'em here to come and meet you guys. By the way, where is everybody?" he then asked after a comment.

"They're inside. I'll get 'em out," the girl replied, before turning inside and calling, "Hey, guys! Christian's Coalition is here!"

"Who's she callin' to?" Tomko then asked Christian.

"Travis, you can't tell me you don't know who that is," Johnny cut in.

"Hey, I don't entirely recognize her either. I mean, I know she looks familiar, but I can't seem to pin a name on it yet," Miz replied, coming in the defense of the Problem Solver.

"Christian already did pin a name on it. He called her 'Chantelle'," Maryse pointed out. Suddenly a light bulb went off in Miz's head.

"Wait! You mean that's…"

"Absolutely," Morrison replied, just in the nick of time, as three guys came out. One was apparently black, though his skin tone was a bit lighter than Shelton Benjamin's, and he actually had a similar haircut to what Shelty B used to have. One of the other two, apparently white guys, had with a round head, a very short cut of blonde hair, and a pair of black sunglasses on. The second white one was notable for his medium-length black hair, short goatee, the skullcap on over his head, and looking like a slight mix between Super Crazy and Chuck Palumbo, except a lot more relaxed like Tomko.

"Hey, Steve Knight!" Christian called, as he and the white shaded guy shook hands and bumped shoulders.

"Yo, Christian! How's the whole biz, man?" Steve greeted heartily, to which he and Christian chuckled. "I got Dave and the Piper here with me, and as you can see, Chantelle's along wit' us. So what's up? Y'all got everything?"

"Yeah," Johnny spoke up. "Hey, guys. I'm John Morrison, and Miz, Maryse, and Tomko still don't quite realize that history just got made, with the Christian Coalition and Flipsyde, coming together as one."

"Hey, I heard that! I did figure it out!" Miz instantly complained. "Well, at least now, anyways. Besides, Johnny and Christian did a good enough job convincing the rest of us we needed to bring the cash it didn't even matter."

"Hey, yo, don't worry about it. I'm just impressed ya came altogether," the black guy spoke up as he and the guy in the skullcap approached the Coalition. "I'm the Piper, and this guy's Dave Lopez. He's got a real mean flow with the guitar strings, but I'm sure at least three o' y'all know that."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure all of us know that," Tomko interjected himself into things. Dave was left chuckling.

"Jinho Ferreira," Morrison started, to which the Piper turned around, obviously noticing his own real name. "Heard you actually got some Brazilian roots. Dave's Chilean, I think, right?"

"That all true?" Miz asked.

"Yep. Couldn't've found better partners, though," Steve replied, putting an arm around his boys. "Flipsyde is like a movement made worldwide, beyond borders, no division necessary."

"Whatever. We all know the best countries are France and Canada," Maryse easily cut in, plugging her own lines above all else - specifically, where… oh, what the hell? Let's just let Dave tell ya.

"She's gotta be from Quebec," was his conclusion. "That's where France and Canada come together."

"And with that accent, that's really the best guess," Chantelle added.

"Wow. I'm impressed," Maryse actually admitted.

"So what y'all think?" Piper asked as he turned to his Flipsyde band mates.

"I think we're ready to rock the world," Knight replied.

"I'm Chantelle Paige, and I think Steve just said it all," Chantelle stated in a semi-parody of politicians "approving this message", to which mostly everyone else broke into short laughter. Mostly, that is, except for Maryse and Tomko. Those two were actually amused as well, though: just only to the point of a chuckle.

-

A/N: For the record, for those of you who don't know, the people Christian met with at the end of the chapter are not, and I repeat, NOT, OCs. Flipsyde is an actual band of artists who I consider more visionary and real than a lot of the mainstream types out there right now. And no, I did not just have Christian's Coalition have a random meeting with them for no reason. Their influence is actually about to be felt swiftly as of the next chapter.

Oh, and before I forget… since the story date is still in the week of the 6th to the 10th of October, making this thing currently be about seven weeks back, and at the time I'm typing all this it's really Thanksgiving, I just felt the need to say this to all my peeps here:

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

See ya next time.

-Pac.


	8. To Prove We Ready

_**State of Takeover: Cause That's How I Roll!**_ by Instant Classic Superstar Pac

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and this is not linked to any of my other stories.

Rating: T

Summary: Right as she declares unfinished business, Captain Charisma suddenly returns and is talking to her. The result is the first seed of a new Coalition set to turn the world upside down. (Christian, Maryse, Tomko, Morrison, Miz, and an eventual pairing.)

-

NOTE: Here's a clue for ya, DASM. They won't just have to do with this chapter. They will have to do with many chapters to come. Trust me. Read on. You'll see what I mean.

**Chapter 8: To Prove We Ready**

_Event Date: Friday, October 10, 2008_

Location: Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, WA

The Christian Coalition actually decided to split up across town when they got here last night and to meet up inside the arena, allowing all five members to get their own pieces of enjoyment in on the city scene of Spokane. For Christian, Tomko, and even Johnny, that actually ended a little earlier than they thought it would. Right now it was about 4:50, and they were all already back within this hour as of 20 minutes ago. Just coming into the arena parking lot at the moment was none other than Maryse, pulling up in a red Corolla E120. She opened the driver's door, then got out, closing it with a soft touch, before taking the keys out the pocket of her jeans. She had already trusted Travis with the main of her stuff, so she didn't need to take the rolling load in and out. This, of course, allowed her to lock the door right after getting out, then walking on towards the inside of the building.

As she was walking around, trying to find her tattooed giant friend, who had told her he was inside already over the phone a couple minutes ago, Maryse would end up seeing Natalya just standing there.

"Hey, Natalya!" Maryse called as she came over to the plump dyed redhead. "Have you seen Tomko anywhere?"

"Yeah, I saw him come in here some forty minutes ago. He actually rolled in with your stuff," Natalya replied. "I was impressed, cause he also had his bag on his right shoulder at the same time."

"Well, he is very big and strong," Maryse pointed out with a hearty chuckle.

"Obviously. I know he's still in the arena, but I couldn't tell ya just where in it right now. But look, I kinda needed to talk to you about something. You know you and I have a match tonight, right?" Natalya began, to which Maryse immediately grew a confused expression.

"A match? Us? You mean one-on-one?" Maryse asked, giving vocal proof to her confusion.

"Yeah, I actually went over to Vickie Guerrero and asked for a one-on-one match with you," Natalya replied, to which Maryse looked at her as if both thinking she was insane and demanding what the meaning of this was. "I mean, don't take this as some sort of a 'this means war' declaration or anything, but I just didn't like how you and your boys came across to those Priceless guys back on Monday night."

"Priceless?" Maryse repeated incredulously - which wasn't far off from what she was feeling. "You're kidding! There is no way you would pick a fight with me over Priceless."

"What exactly do Priceless and I have in common, Maryse? Figure it out," Natalya told her, the very sound of her voice causing that request to sound like a command. Despite feeling insulted by this, Maryse decided to suck it up and actually try to think about the answer, until some five seconds later:

"You have a famous father," the French-Canadian Beauty finally connected the dots.

"Exactly, and not just a famous father. A legendary wrestling father. And I don't appreciate the way you guys just showed total lack of respect for their lineages and the fact that they're trying to blaze a trail of their own even beyond that," Natalya argued, her case actually sounding valid to Maryse. "You should know that with me being the same way, I'm actually capable of sympathizing with those boys. I don't think my dad or my uncle Bret would appreciate it if you called them fat, so please tell your boys not to do it to anybody else's legendary dad. I hate to do this to you, Maryse. You and I are good friends. But I gotta take you down in order to teach your Coalition some respect." With her message point made, Natalya then turned to leave, until Maryse called to her…

"Natalya!" Right on that note, she caught Nasty Nattie's attention, as the more experienced wrestler stopped and turned around. "I'm not in the Coalition just to hang around. I'm actually studying up and taking advice. So don't expect me to just roll over for you and play girly diva."

"Don't worry. I know," Natalya assured her, before turning back forwards and walking away. As she watched her leave, Maryse was actually impressed that none of this discussion included Natalya's catchphrase of, _"You mess with the best, you go down with the rest."_

Meanwhile, John Morrison and Travis Tomko had already met up in the arena and were chatting it up in front of the Christian Coalition locker room.

"I wonder how our entrance is gonna go, how the fans are gonna take it," Johnny stated.

"Yo, I don't think it's gonna be anything we haven't heard before. Though, with what we managed to pick up, I'm pretty sure they're gonna be live," Tomko guessed. "Hey, uh… could you shoot Miz a call and ask where he is?"

"

"Hey, guys!" Christian called to them as he walked over. "I feel really good about what we could do tonight. You both already thinking ready to take the night over?"

"Don't make that sound too easy. I mean, I'm pretty sure R-Truth didn't pick up a slouch convention," Johnny made sure to point out. "But ultimately; yeah, we're gonna take over. I don't know who his partners are gonna be, but as sure as I am that they're gonna be talented, I'm also pretty sure they will be the following: less focused and talented than us, out of shape, and jealous."

"Outta shape and jealous? Excuse me?" a familiar voice suddenly spoke up, which the group turned to see was that of R-Truth.

"Hope you found your team, cause my Coalition and I, me and my main peeps, we're ready to go out there and kick some ass tonight," Christian proclaimed, the confident smirk immediately gracing his charismatic features.

"Don't go too far 'head, nowm" Truth counseled, "cause I got sum'n to say. Especially to your lil' punk boy Morrison over here."

"Punk boy? I hope you're not insinuating I'm related to CM," Morrison quickly retorted.

"Nah. He's way better'n you. And speakin' o' which, outta shape and jealous? Last I checked, bein' in shape don't necessarily mean. Hell, I've been in places where I've seen people prove that you can be as fat as a ham burglar and still be in shape," Truth countered, to which Morrison responded with raised eyebrows of questioning curiosity. "You lookin' at me like I'm lyin'? Why don't you ask Christian?"

"Hate to say it, but he's got a point on that end," Christian conceded as soon as John turned his way.

"You're kidding me, right?"

"Remember that big Samoan guy with all the kicks and submissions I was telling you about?" Christian then asked him. Morrison slapped a hand on his own forehead then brushed it through his hair as Tomko broke into a grin, knowing exactly who Christian was talking about.

"Exactly. And as far as jealous goes, I'm in the fast lane to gettin' a US title shot just for sayin' whassup! What title you got!?" R-Truth asked, though it was more like challenging Morrison to answer than simply asking - especially since he didn't even give him much time to answer at all before going on. 'And as for my partners… I don't see why the new WWE Tag Team Champions would be jealous o' some pretty boy actin' like some kinda visionary when e'y body knows he's just some pretty boy."

"Congratulations. You're even more adept at wannabe cheap gangster talk than Cryme Tyme, and the partners you picked are a guy with a ridiculous afro who I've already beaten for gold, and his little hyperactive brother. You know, this would be the part where I come up with some clever retort for you, R-Truth, but right now, I'm thinking the most clever retort of all is actually a very simple one," Johnny started in his rebuttal.

"What's that?" Truth asked.

"Let's see how far cheap gangster talk, fake gangster rap, and ridiculous afros take you and the Colons later tonight. See you in the ring," Morrison finished up, to which Truth responded seconds later by feigning an attack on him. Seeing that the Shaman of Sexy didn't even flinch, Truth then walked off. From the same direction he was leaving back to, the group also saw Maryse approaching them.

"I actually got booked for a match tonight. Against Natalya," spoke the Artist of Sexiness herself.

"Natalya?" Morrison asked in definite surprise. This was definitely weird - Maryse and Natalya were friends, last time he checked. Why would they be in a match against one another?

"Yep. Apparently she asked for it because we were too rough with Priceless on Monday night," Maryse reported, the tone of her voice still indicating some disbelief on that end. "Must be a second-generation thing."

"Must be. Hey, guys, do I even have a match?" Tomko actually thought to ask.

"No," Maryse answered. "I just had a look at the match card to see if Natalya was being serious. I saw that was true, and I saw that you guys have the rapper that just passed me and those two Colon brothers, but I didn't see 'Travis Tomko' anywhere on it.

"Looks like you're pulling ringside duty tonight, Tomko," Johnny remarked, putting a hand on the Problem Solver's shoulder. "But I think it's safe to say the rest of us are gonna be looking forward to showing our opponents the business end of the stamp of disapproval from the Palace of Wisdom." Christian would nod in complete agreement.

And within the next three hours, the Miz would come back and meet the gang as well, with a little bit of an extra pep to his step - which Morrison by now knew all too well was the man's scoring mood. And when those three hours were over, Smackdown was on the air on MyNetworkTVs everywhere, and the intro video and opening pyro came and ran their courses. Then on came the graphics billing both the Coalition's debut match against R-Truth, Primo Colon and Carlito, and a main event featuring Jeff Hardy and WWE Champion Triple H against Vladimir Kozlov and MVP.

Immediately after that though, the arena heard the voice of Akon saying the echoing word "Konvict", his usual song introduction, accompanied by a disco style club rap sound that slowly saw a long note of a rock guitar increase in volume within it. About eleven seconds in, the voice of Steve Knight came on saying "We ready," repeating this phrase three more times with Chantelle Paige's voice singing along. A beat finally came in, following which Steve broke into a chorus about champions, then into a verse of song. At this point, a huge pyro waterfall, the kind we'd seen from a certain person **years** ago, came on, and Christian came out in the middle of it - to which the fans immediately marked out on their feet, as if they hadn't already, the dots finally being connected: Flipside's "Champion", the main theme for the 2008 Olympic Games, was now the entrance music of Christian's Coalition!

Shortly after Christian, the rest of the gang came out, led first by John Morrison. Morrison and Maryse stood as Christian's left and right hands respectively, Tomko came out on Christian and Johnny's left, and Miz on Christian and Maryse's right. They then all did their signature stage poses, Christian's being the crossed-over CC he made with both hands up high. The pyro waterfall had just stopped, and Morrison's slow motion effect did not translate to this entrance, sadly. The quintet would then walk down the ramp, Miz and Tomko chatting amongst themselves a bit in the back as they got into the ring one by one. Miz and Maryse went up through their sides of the apron, while the other three came in via the steps and ropes.

While Maryse did her usual hair-flipping pose, Miz got on his usual turnbuckle and waited for Morrison, who came in and got on the other turnbuckle around Maryse, at which point they both did their trademark motions, and Maryse extended her arms out with a nodding smile as if presenting both of them to the crowd. Meanwhile, Christian and Tomko had gotten on the other two turnbuckles, Tomko doing his pointing across the crowd and strong posing thing while Christian pointed a kiss to the crowd and showed them the CC again. Once all four dudes got off the turnbuckle, of course Christian was the guy who stretched his arms out in the center as if taking in the fans' absolute adulation towards the group.

He then instructed Miz to go get a microphone, as none of the group had even come with one, which the Chick Magnet did so. After Miz came back in with a mike and presented it to Christian, the group decided to stop and allow for some listening to the song, as well as for the crowd to calm down just a bit, which it took awhile to do, before the song was finally faded out with Chantelle Paige singing as Christian held the microphone up to his mouth.

The fans would eventually break into chants of "Christian! Christian! Christian! Christian!", as he and the Coalition admired the awesomeness of this for a few seconds, until he was finally ready to speak.

"Well, well, well, it seems that all the Peeps here in Spokane, Washington have spo_ken_! Flipsyde and the Christian Coalition are what MNM once was, no offense to Johnny, and that is the it team on the scene!" Christian proclaimed loudly, starting up the house of cheers again as Johnny expressed off-mike that now he's been a part of both teams. "Now, we came out here at the start of Smackdown to address two things: the ending of last Monday's Raw, and the start of tonight's Smackdown."

"First of all, I want to address what happened on Raw… when Mike Adamle suddenly announced that per the request of my good friend Shane McMahon, I am one of the options to become guest referee at Cyber Sunday in the match between Chris Jericho and Batista for Jericho's World Heavyweight Championship," he recited to the audience. "To be perfectly honest with you, with all due respect to Shane and the Raw GM's decisions… especially considering the fact that I'm on Smackdown, I think it's pretty safe to say that I have absolutely no interest in deciding just who walks out of Phoenix the World Heavyweight Champion. However, there was something in that whole thing that did interest me."

"And that was the fact that according to Mike Adamle, if the second and third vote-getters in the pool of four that features me, along with Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels, and 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, are men that can compete in this ring," proceeded the Captain, "the double main event of two world championship matches gets turned into a triple main event cause said second and third vote-getters would be pitted against each other in a match. Which basically means, considering the neck problems forcing Austin's hand to retire from actually wrestling five years ago, and the fact that Randy Orton's arm is apparently not quite up to snuff yet, that if Shawn Michaels and I are voted at two and three, then there will be an awesome Raw vs. Smackdown marquee match. It would be the Icon That Can Still Go versus the True Champ. The Showstopper versus the Show _Stealer_! HBK, 'the Heartbreak Kid' Shawn Michaels, versus C², 'Captain Charisma' Christian! _That_ is what interests me!" And at the sound of that marquee possibility, the crowd went wild once again.

"And now, for an early marquee change of subject, from the ending of Raw, to the start of Smackdown," he successfully segued. "See, I bet you're all just waiting to hear the amazing, incredible story of how I got… no, how _we_ got this theme, aren't ya?" And as they screamed out "Yeah!", he knew he had their attention. "Well, it's like this: this whole thing was actually partially inspired by Flipsyde. See, while I was running around in other places, in other companies, I actually ended up hearing some of their work, including this song right here, 'Champion', the biggest musical contribution to this year's Olympics, and I was thoroughly more than impressed with them. I just knew that when and if I came back here, that I would feel the need to use some of their stuff. So as all this happened, it was about as soon as I picked up Tomko, I was actually making phone calls and trying to get in touch with Interscope Records. I eventually got through, started making some connections, getting info that would lead me through Akon's people, all this going on for a couple weeks or so until last week, when finally I was able to get on the phone with the 'syde's Southern singer guy, Steve Knight.

"So we arranged a meeting behind the back of my Coalition. But then I decided to take them along, thinking it might pay some dividends on both sides for us all to be friends. So I told the gang to pack up with some cash and get ready to head down to Oakland, where Knight had agreed to meet us in that city's version of Chinatown. And when the nine of us were all together at once, it just clicked. As a matter of fact, it clicked so well, Flipsyde was so ipressed with us, they actually let us use 'Champion' for even less than we thought. They still ended up with a real nice royalty sum, though, since we're gonna be using this song for up to a full year." He couldn't get to continue on, though, cause John Morrison was tapping him and saying "hold up". As he stopped, Johnny went over to the ropes and reached through to ask for and receive a microphone, before going back next to Christian.

"First of all, I just wanna start on this note for the MoFos in the audience tonight," Johnny began, receiving a mix of many cheers and a few boos - though none of the booing came from any ladies, obviously. "Hi. I'm John Morrison, and I think it's safe to say that my focus is ridiculous." Those last four words were taken from a line of Piper's in "Champion", and the people loved it! "Now for business. Christian, you and I were talking earlier about how we in the Christian Coalition are actually quite similar to the collection of Flipsyde and their producer Akon, and I think now would be a good time to bring those comparisons to light. So shall we?"

"Before we do that, I wanna make it clear that we are not exactly the same as they are. Flipsyde and the Christian Coalition are two immaculate groups in their own kind that cannot be compared to another for an exact match. However, each of us has some similarities with one of them. Take me and Steve Knight, for example. He and I are basically the forces of harmonizing vocal charisma in both teams. John, you Jinho 'the Piper' Ferreira are the talent showcase guy who everybody thinks is gonna blow up into a huge star on their own more than anyone else."

"In addition to that, we are deep thinkers and poets, as well as in the position to display anatomically amazing humanity. Though clearly I'm superior in every facet of that as well," Morrison added, making sure to plug himself while at it.

"That brings us to Maryse and what she has in common with Chantelle Paige," Christian continued as he turned to the Sexiest of the Sexy. "First of all, you both add sex appeal, just like Johnny and Piper do, except with switched gender roles. Secondly, you're both the new girl on the block who many people like, and many others don't think factor into the style and the essence of what the group is supposed to be all about. In other words, you're the new hot feminine flavor fans are gonna take some time to get used to that, along with the breakthrough star, makes this ship look damn good."

"That brings us to my boy Travis Tomko," Johnny took over. "Not that the guitarist from Chile, Dave Lopez, has a goatee that's even half as long as yours, but let's face it. He's just like you, the Man of Principles with the skullcaps. Relaxed, cool demeanor, loyal and dedicated to one's friends and his craft, black facial hair, and did I mention the skullcaps?" Miz was then signaling for a mike, which Christian turned over to him.

"Yeah, I think you did mention the skullcaps. But more importantly, who does all that leave _me_ as?" he then asked.

"You're the rowdy star who already grew a reputation long before getting involved in our business. That makes you like Akon, the band's current producer," John Morrison stated, to which a major mixed reaction came about, which only proved Johnny and Christian's point. Akon was popular, but very controversial, as well as perceived by some as a weak link to a group like Flipsyde. Sound familiar?

"You know, I just wanted speak out on this match you guys got coming up later tonight," Tomko remarked, having been granted the first mike from the Miz, no pun intended. "For some dumb reason I'll never understand, R-Truth decided to come up in our face last Sunday before the pay-per-view about some conversation Shelton Benjamin interrupted and Christian left. Now, R-Truth, I know the fans like it when you ask them what's up, but now it's the time for me to _tell_ them what's up. And what's up is, come tonight's match, you and the Puerto Rican Apple Brothers are gonna see firsthand why the Christian Coalition is where it's at, and why anybody who stands in our way, we will take out."

At that point, "Champion" came back on, and all microphones were dropped, as the Coalition lined up in the center of the ring and had all their arms raised, as if they had already attained this victory. The presumptiveness of it got booed by some people, but most of the crowd took in the moment with pride and showed it with cheers.

As the graphic hyping the tag team main event came on and the show went to a commercial break, the Coalition would wind up leaving.

Some 30 minutes later, it was time for their match. As they were told by the beat of R-Truth's entrance rap came on, and he dud his usual rap routine from the stands, shouting out "Yo! Yo! Yo! Yo! Yo! Come on! Spokane, Washington!" before getting into the rap verse and coming down the stands line by line, the crowd being hyped up by R-Truth's direct approach as usual. As he finally got through to the second chorus, he was at the guardrail, which he jumped over to the inside before sliding under the ropes to get in the ring. Once the chorus was done, he was done talking, and now he got on the turnbuckle and started doing that head bobbing thing he does, as his theme song faded out. Soon, to more cheers, the sound of an apple spit and the subsequent saying of Carlito that "I spit in the face of people who don't want to be cool" blared on and led to the Colon brothers walking down the ramp casually and coolly to the theme of "Cool", without any sort of theatrics but with smiles on their faces as they both slid into the ring and exchanged smiling high fives with R-Truth.

As this faded out, on blared that loud guitar riff which preceded John Morrison's theme song, "Ain't No Make Believe" by Stonefree Experience, and Morrison and the Miz came out together and both did their standard poses, the fans cheering for them as well. After standing in their poses to the slo-mo effect, Miz and Morrison walked down the ramp and got into the ring, Miz by going straight to the apron before crossing the ropes, Morrison using the steps. They didn't go on any turnbuckles this time, instead just standing opposite R-Truth and the Colons, waiting for their song to fade out and "Just Close Your Eyes" to begin with its violin intro as Morrison took off his shades and fur coat.

Which it did, as the crowd immediately went up in the loudest cheers of the match, proving that Christian was the most approved and celebrated figure of them all as this was his first match back in action. He came out in his Captain Charisma jumpsuit on and Tomko following behind him, turning his back and extending his arms out at the stage as if to take in the love from the Peeps, which they were giving handily. He then turned forward again, walking down the ramp with a quick stride and a smile on his face underneath that hood, running up the steps and quickly spinning across the ropes to get in the ring as Tomko stood on the outside. Christian then got on his new usual turnbuckle and removed his hood before pointing a kiss to the Peeps, who burst up again as he did this. He then came off and ran to the turnbuckle on the other side, where he unzipped the jacket and showed off his cheat before throwing up the CC sign with a smile on his face. He then came down and took off the jumpsuit, before meeting Miz and Morrison in their corner as the music faded out.

The bell rang, and both teams started discussing strategy for a little bit. As the Colons and the Dirt Sheet duo retreated to the apron, it was clear that R-Truth and Christian were both ready to start this match. The two circled each other and both started clapping their hands, vying for the support of the crowd. Christian didn't win hands down, but more of his fans were heard than R-Truth's, before the two finally locked up in the center of the ring. Truth would eventually get the advantage, pushing Christian into a corner, but Christian would reverse the position and go on a small flurry of right hands to the face and knife edge chops to the chest of Truth. Once the referee started with the DQ count, Christian stepped away from R-Truth and turned to the crowd, thumping his chest and pointing a kiss in Captain Charisma fashion and getting mostly cheered for it. Quickly turning around after Truth got out of the corner, though, he gave his street-bred opponent absolutely no opportunity to take advantage of him turning his back.

Truth and Christian once again circled the ring, and Christian tried to lunge forward for a double leg takedown, which Truth sidestepped before bobbing his head again in front of Christian's face. As Christian stepped a little closer, Truth shouted "Whassup!", then got the receipt of a sudden immediate slap!

"Right in your ugly face!" Christian shouted right into Truth's ear, following which he would end up socked and taken down with a right hand. Christian quickly got up from that, and only took another. He got up again, and Truth kicked him in the midsection before taking his feet out from under him with a leg sweep. Truth then covered Christian, but only ended up getting a two count out of it.

Truth then dragged Christian over to his team's corner, where he tagged in Carlito. Carlito came into the ring and kicked Christian in the gut, then irishwhipped him and caught him with a knee to the gut, causing him to flip over on his back. Carlito quickly pounced on Christian, getting the cover. Christian kicked out after two, and Carlito picked him up. He then tried to go for a scoop slam, but Christian wiggled out of it and landed on his feet behind Carlito, which he quickly took advantage of to get in an inverted facelock and take him down with a falling inverted DDT! Now it was Christian's turn to cover Carlito. 1, 2, Caribbean Cool kicked out.

Christian immediately got back on the ball, picking up Carlito and correctly hitting a scoop slam of his own, before dragging Carlito over to the Coalition's corner and tagging in John Morrison. However, as Johnny was about to enter the ring, Christian told him to stay back and that he wanted to try that catapult thing Johnny usually did with the Miz. He grabbed both Carlito's legs, then fell down on his back, catapulting Carlito up to Johnny, who hit the elbow forcing Carlito to go down all bent out of shape. Morrison then slingshot himself over the ropes and crafted down onto Carlito with that diving clothesline he usually did, before covering the afro-haired Puerto Rican as Christian got out of the ring. He wound up getting a two count.

Morrison got behind Carlito, waiting for him to get up, then reached around him to lift and drop him into a backbreaker. Morrison then tagged in the Miz, who came into the ring and came down to Carlito ang locked in a headlock on him. But Miz didn't keep the headlock as simply that for long, actually taking the opportunity a couple of times to drive his right elbow into Carlito's head three times. After the third, he let go and then covered the downed Carlito, who kicked out after two again. Miz picked up Carlito and kicked him in the gut, before throwing him down by the hair in a rear mat slam, then going down again to try and choke him out a little until the referee's DQ count hit four. As soon as he got off of Carlito, Miz decided to go on a turnbuckle, raise his arms up in his usual way, and shout "HOO-RAH!", which half the crowd repeated proudly and half the crowd retorted to by saying "You Suck!" instead. Miz then came down from the turnbuckle and saw Carlito trying to pick himself up. Noticing this, he took Carlito and went to choke him using the middle rope, until the ref's DQ count got to three. Miz then walked off to the opposite side, then ran right back to where Carlito was, actually using him as a springboard to jump over the ropes to the outside while turning around to get him with a leaping hangman. Carlito, though, was able to back out of the way, then quickly get up, go off the opposite ropes, then do a somersault plancha overboard right onto Miz!

At that point, though, Christian decided to play tactical genius, trying to get into the ring and distracting the referee long enough for Tomko to strike Carlito down with a boot to the face as soon as he got up. Tomko then backed away as Morrison got off the apron, picked up Carlito and rolled him into the ring. Miz, meanwhile, used this time to pick himself up. Johnny got up on the apron, and Christian got back there as well, done playing with the official. Miz was able to slide back in the ring at the same time as Carlito got up, and would attempt a clothesline, only for Carlito to duck it, and then instantly crack him from behind with the Backstabber!

As the fans started getting on their feet, they were now actually chanting the name of Carlito's energetic baby brother Primo, looking forward to him rocking the house. Both Carlito and the Miz were down on the ground, hoping and needing to crawl over to get to one of their partner. After sixteen seconds or so, Miz was able to get to Morrison first, but Carlito was really close to getting to Primo. Johnny tried to hold off Carlito, but Carlito was able to spin around on the ground and kick Johnny off of him, before tagging in Primo!

Primo immediately went up the turnbuckle and flew off to hit Johnny with a missile dropkick, following which Christian tried to come in to attack Primo, only for the kid to duck it and quickly catch him as soon as he turned around with a hurricanrana! Christian would wind up right back at the apron. Morrison then got up and kicked him in the midsection, then irishwhipped the kid, tried to greet Primo back with a clothesline which he ducked, then turned around quickly as Primo ran off the other side only to find himself caught in a cross body takedown! Primo stayed on top of Johnny, getting the 1, 2, but no three. As Morrison was able to kick out. Both men quickly got back up, Primo went for a clothesline, but Johnny ducked it, hooked the arm, and got Primo with an STO backbreaker, from which the Shaman raised up and hit a falling neck breaker. Johnny then covered Primo, who managed to kick out after two himself. Morrison then tried to go and pick Primo up, but Primo turned the tables, quickly dragging him down in a small package! 1… 2… no! The Friday Night Delight was able to kick out again!

As Tomko watched attentively, actually screaming at Johnny to get back in the game, Johnny and Primo both got up at the same time. Johnny tried to lunge after Primo, but Primo did a cartwheel sideways to avoid it, then went for a dropkick. Problem with that was, John didn't walk up into it as Primo anticipated, leading to him falling flat on his back. Morrison then waited for Primo to get back up, before spring boarding off the ropes and going for that high leaping roundhouse kick of his, but Primo was able to duck it. Johnny wound up getting on his feet, but not without Primo taking him right back down by connecting with a flying forearm.

Right at this moment, Christian decided to come into the ring and go right past the referee and subsequently said ref's admonishment, hiiting Primo from behind and catching him with a forearm shove, knocking him out of the ring. Carlito tried to storm in and hit a Backstabber on Christian, but Christian was right into a corner and thus able to hang onto the ropes so that Carlito would fall flat on his own back. Christian turned around as Carlito's legs were still up, quickly taking them and flipping over for a jackknife cover. 1… 2… Carlito kicked out again!

R-Truth then came right into the ring and hit Christian as soon as he turned around with that Flying Jalapeño jumping corkscrew forearm, then played to the crowd by screaming out, "Whassup!", which they repeated earnestly. As Christian picked himself, Truth quickly turned around and doubled him over with a kick to the midsection, then tried to run off the ropes and get him with his corkscrew axe kick finisher, only for Christian to move out of the way and let Truth fall flat on his ass! Carlito got up and got Christian from behind and hit his Caribbean Twist rolling cutter on him. Carlito went for a cover. 1… 2… Miz suddenly pulled Carlito off of Christian and to the outside! Just around where they were, Primo and John Morrison were also fighting on the outside, and Morrison had just ducked a Primo attack, then quickly kicked him in the gut and hitting him with the Moonlight Drive into the concrete floor!

Meanwhile, Miz saw Carlito get up halfway, then shocked him up with a knee to the head followed by a quick falling neck breaker, executing the Reality Check combo on Carlito, also into the concrete! Meanwhile, back in the ring, R-Truth got up and was about ready to go for the axe kick again, but Tomko got on the apron, distracting both the ref and Truth, whose immediate approach his way was his cue to jump back down. Meanwhile, Christian was up, and he took this perfect opportunity to hook Truth's arms from behind, spin around, and drop him right in the Unprettier! However, even though the fans were now marking out at having seen this move in a WWE ring for the first time in nearly three years, Christian wasn't done there. He got back up, shouted and signaled to his peeps that he was going up top, then went to the apron and went up the turnbuckle that was closest to Truth. Once up there, he thumped his chest a couple of times, then leapt off and hit a frog splash right into the back of R-Truth! Christian then rolled his opponent over onto his back and hooked his leg for the cover. 1… 2… 3!

"The winners of this match, the team of John Morrison, the Miz, and Christian!"

As ring announcer Justin Roberts made this announcement and "Just Close Your Eyes" came back on, Miz, Morrison, and Tomko entered the ring, while Christian picked himself up. Once all were up and inside, a group hug was then seen in the ring between the three in-ring participants of the winning side, following which all four of them lined up next to one another and raised their arms in victory, much to the adulation of the Spokane Peepulation. Once their arms went down, Christian went on the turnbuckle to look through the crowd, and while there were some people booing at the somewhat cheap nature of the win, most didn't care when it came to him, knowing it was realistic that he'd do this sometimes. Recognizing this, Christian threw on a smile, thumped his chest a couple of times, and pointed a kiss all across a section of Peeps, and they all loved it. Once he came off the turnbuckle, Tomko patting him and the others on the back over a job well done, the four Coalition members all left the ring and started walking up the ramp, following which the replay showed the Moonlight Drive, Reality Check, Tomko's interference, the Unprettier, and the finishing frog splash. Once it was done, they were all back on the stage, looking over at the crowd, and Christian threw up his CC sign again, the once more positive reception making Morrison, Miz, and Tomko smile.

In the meantime, back inside the Coalition's dressing room, Maryse was actually not watching this match. She was actually studying tapes of seeing Natalya in action. Specifically, she was watching Natalya's first match on Smackdown in a tag team match with Victoria against Michelle McCool and Cherry. Even more specifically, she was now watching the part where Natalya put on that Sharpshooter so tightly Cherry pretty damn near immediately kicked out.

"Whoa. Better avoid that," Maryse observantly thought aloud while watching this. She soon found herself interrupted, though, as her locker room door was opened and her space barged into… by Michelle McCool.

"So I can see you're really proud of yourself, huh?" Michelle asked with a clear touch of sarcastic venom in her voice.

"Proud of myself? About what, exactly? Perhaps you mean to congratulate me for being the Sexiest of the Sexy as I am?" Maryse guessed with equal sarcasm, knowing that McCool was not talking about that and would be irritated by the notion that she was.

"No way. First of all, I know for a fact that there has got to be somebody out there who is sexier than you," Michelle wittily reversed the position rather than get irritated. "Also, what I came to talk about is how you and your boys are constantly going around talking bad about everybody. And I mean everybody. Seriously, all this time, who have they, no, specifically, who have you, beat?"

"Funny you should ask that, Michelle, cause, I remember that some two and a half weeks ago, I beat _you_," Maryse quickly countered, putting Michelle in her place. "And seriously. First Natalya, now you. Who else is coming to talk to me about Priceless?"

"I'm not talking about Priceless, Maryse. I'm talking about my friends," Michelle unhesitantly replied. "First you put up all sorts of ridiculous accusations on Brie Bella about whatever she's got going on under the ring, now I'm finding out from Maria that two weeks ago you basically called her a slut! What in the world is wrong with you? I mean, do you have any respect? Heck, do you even know what that word means?"

"Okay, I resent that," Maryse interrupted, taking Michelle aback. "I was not calling Maria a slut. I was simply trying to help her understand how loose she was becoming. I was hoping that she would be able to take a lesson from it, but I guess even that was not to be. Now can you please get out of here? I'm getting ready for my match tonight against Natalya."

"You know, I don't like Natalya, but I do respect her as a competitor a whole hell of a lot more than I respect you. So I hope she kicks your ass all over the arena and seriously puts you in your place," Michelle finished up, before walking out and shutting the door behind her.

"What a false saint," Maryse observed, shaking her head after a few seconds.

At around the 9:25 point, the introductory beat to "Ooh Oui" blared on, and the recognition of Christian Coalition member Maryse's theme about to fully come on ended up bringing the arena into an uproar of cheers. Maryse came out with a smile and walked down the ramp in a quick stride, extending her arms out halfway along the way, before going around ringside onto the right side of the apron, going through the middle and top rope, then going her hair flicking sexy pose, which she added something to this time by pointing into the crowd.

Her music quickly faded out from there and was replaced by "Hartbreaker", Natalya's theme music, complete with the evil laugh in the beginning. The blonde-turned-redhead daughter came out and did her evil laugh at the stage, before going down the ramp with a serious face and going right on the apron and under the ropes to enter the ring. Once in, she got on the turnbuckle facing her and did her evil laugh again, before getting off and staring down Maryse as if seriously looking to beat her down.

As soon as the bell rang, Maryse and Natalya both got set to lock up inside the ring, but instead of locking up face to face, Maryse got around Natalya and grappled her from behind. Natalya, though, was able to use her girth and strength in order to break free with enough force to actually knock Maryse flat on her ass. Natalya turned around as Maryse quickly got up, and Maryse had actually gotten herself into a corner. Natalya went after her, but she managed to evade it, quickly turning around to take advantage by hitting Natalya in the corner with several stomps to the midsection followed by a foot choke. The ref tried to admonish her, but she stayed on, so he started his DQ count, and she let go and got off of Natalya at the count of four, allowing Nattie to take a few steps up and out of the corner. Maryse, though, used this opportunity to run off the ropes behind Natalya and trip her on her back quickly with a running chop block. Maryse then took advantage and covered Natalya, who would damn near power out after two. Maryse then went to pick up Natalya again, but that turned out to be a mistake, as Natalya picked up Maryse and drove her back first into a corner, then grabbed her by the head and threw her through the second and third rope out of the ring.

Natalya then slowly got off the apron and down and around the steel steps in order to get to Maryse, then picked up Maryse with a military press before dropping her jaw-first into the apron. Maryse would fall on her ass again, while actually favoring her jaw. Natalya picked up Maryse again, and this time threw her back into the ring, going in after her and crawling over to make the cover. Maryse kicked out after two. Natalya then picked up Maryse, set her up on the second rope, and jumped so that her hips crashed into Maryse's back, both knocking down the Sexiest of the Sexy harshly and causing her to favor her back a bit. Natalya picked up Maryse again, and this time irishwhipped her, then greeted her return by carrying her and taking her down in a sidewalk slam. Natalya then rolled Maryse on her back and went for a cover, to which Maryse kicked out after two. Natalya picked up Maryse, shot her with a couple of forearms, then tried to irishwhip Maryse, except the blonde held on to the ropes. Natalya then charged at Maryse, who low bridged the ropes and let her fall over to the outside. With Natalya out of the way, Maryse let herself fall to the mat and started favoring her back a little bit.

"Hold it! Hold it! Stop the match!" the annoyingly shrill voice of Vickie Guerrero blasted on to an immediate round of boos and catcalls, as she was standing at the stage with a microphone. "Sorry to interrupt this match, as it was getting really competitive, but I just felt the need to say something, and Maryse, you might want to listen, because this involves your leader." Maryse, still favoring her back, was able to pick herself up to one knee as she looked at Vickie and asked what she was talking about.

"Captain Charisma and Shawn Michaels are not the only men who can get involved in the middle part of the triple main event Raw and Smackdown have set up together," Vickie dragged on, the fans continuing to mercilessly attack her with jeers not only because she was Vickie, but also because she was not getting to the point. "See, I just talked with Stephanie McMahon, and she wanted me to announce that whoever between Jeff Hardy and Vladimir Kozlov is not chosen to face Triple H for the WWE Championship, will be added to the match featuring Shawn Michaels and/or Christian at Cyber Sunday." That one was met with a mixed reaction.

"If you, for a change, could excuse _me_ for just a second," another voice joined the conversation, as Vickie Guerrero soon found herself standing face to face with a tremendously fan-supported Christian, who clearly had some questions for her. "First off, Vickie, in case you didn't notice, one of my Coalition soldiers was actually wrestling a match out there. And as the General Manager, you're supposed to be putting on a show of wrestling matches, not interrupting them. Second of all, I would commend Stephanie for making that decision, but I honestly don't know what the hell she's thinking, so I need to get something straight. Assuming Shawn and I are voted second and third on the guest referee side of things, since nobody is gonna vote for Vladimir Kozlov to face Triple H for the WWE Championship, you throw him in _our_ laps? How does that solve anything?"

"If you're so concerned about what will happen at Cyber Sunday, then I recommend you take that up with the McMahons. But as far as Smackdown goes," Vickie started in her counter, gesturing towards Maryse and Natalya, who were both now up and in the ring, "since you care about your Christian Coalition being in matches so much, I'm going to do you three favors, all for next week. As far as you and your Diva sidekick Maryse go, well, she defeated Michelle McCool on ECW but still hasn't received a Divas title shot against her. However, since it looks like Natalya was going to beat Maryse, I would say we put the three of them in a triple threat match to determine the new Divas Champion. _However_…" She paused, cut off by a series of searing boos, as she was even turning that into a broken record. This prompted her to shout was a broken record. "Excuse me!" And the boos only came even louder, irritating her further, until she finally calmed down enough to go on.

"Judging based on- EXCUSE ME!!!" she screamed out again, overcome with anger as the boos were not subsiding in the least.

"Would you just get on with it? You're not gonna get anybody to stop booing you just by screaming 'excuse me'," Natalya suddenly said, having grabbed a microphone, and now having grabbed the respect of the audience. Though Vickie could easily take the advice as an insult and be scornful towards Natalya, she couldn't help but be thankful that the fans were not booing her to hell at the moment.

"Christian, judging based on the way you won your match, your issues with R-Truth are probably not over. Nor are your issues with the members of Raw's Team Priceless," the Smackdown GM proceeded with a smile. "So next week, there will be an intergender triple threat tag team match, pitting you two, Maryse and Christian, against the teams of R-Truth and Divas Champion Michelle McCool, and Natalya and any member of Priceless she chooses to bring over from Raw - provided that Mike Adamle approves of this." Fans actually cheered now, liking the idea that she was putting forth.

"And since you're so confident in what a well-oiled machine your Christian Coalition is, I was actually thinking we should put that to the test. Let's see what happens when we put your two most dysfunctional members, Travis Tomko and the Miz, in a tag team match together, against Jesse and Festus!" she continued to the sound of yet another respectful applause for one of her ideas, though this to a lesser extent than the last.

"What about John Morrison? You have something in store for him too, don't you? Why don't you tell us what that is?" Christian demanded.

"Because she can't, Christian," another female voice uttered, entering the conversation. Stephanie McMahon's face was seen on the Titantron to much applause. "I've heard about how you've been stirring things up here on Smackdown, Christian, and I gotta tell ya, I'm actually pretty pleased to see it. To Quite frankly, I've been, left on the edge of my seat a couple of times, and without you even facing anyone in the main events yet. That is impressive. As far as the idea of either Jeff Hardy or Vladimir Kozlov joining a possible match between the title matches at Cyber Sunday involving you and/or Shawn Michaels, I just thought it would only be fair that guys involved in both main event voting equations could get to be in the middle main event."

"Now, who wants to know what I have in store for John Morrison," Stephanie asked, the segue getting cheered by most of the audience, as Maryse and Christian specifically had their eyes glued to that giant screen. "Well, it's simple. There will be two more matches on the Smackdown card for Cyber Sunday, both of which are actually interconnected. One for the WWE United States Championship, and one for the WWE Tag Team Championship. There will be three vote getters involved. The one with the most votes will face off against Shelton Benjamin for the United States Championship. The other two will go for the Tag Team Championships against the Colons."

"And just how exactly are you gonna decide who these vote getters are, exactly?" Christian inquired, his curiosity getting to him.

"Well, there's gonna be a match next week on Smackdown, and the match will be between John Morrison and Montel Vontavious Porter," Stephanie replied, to which the fans immediately broke out in cheers again. "One of the places in the poll will be taken by the winner of that match, and the other two places will be taken by wrestlers specifically hand picked by the same winner. So if John Morrison wins, and he chooses to pick fellow Christian Coalition members to join him in the poll, the Christian Coalition could actually gain possession of both the United States Championship and the Tag Team titles in one stroke at Cyber Sunday. Thank you for your time, especially you, Christian, and I'll see you all again some other time. WWE Universe, enjoy." And as her face left the screen, the fans slowly built up in cheers of respect, as Christian and Maryse looked at one another and began to grin, seeing that things were about to turn up. Backstage…

"Dude, that is so cool!" Miz was heard exclaiming as he, John Morrison, and Travis Tomko just exited the Christian Coalition dressing room. "All you have to do is beat MVP, and you could get a shot at either the US or the Tag Team Championships!"

"Hey, but don't forget, you gotta pick two people to join you in that poll, Johnny," Tomko added. "So who's it gonna be?"

"Come on, you really gotta ask?" Johnny replied, letting his buddies in ever so slightly on his plan. "When I beat MVP, trust me. I got you guys covered."

"When you beat MVP?" somebody else cut in, right in front of them. Take a guess who that is.

"MVP. So we finally meet," Morrison observed, not exactly sounding very impressed. "If you know what's good for you, you'd forfeit the match. We already know you're gonna lose… again."

"Whoa, whoa - you see that, man? That's the kinda disrespect I've seen enough of around here!" Montel Vontavious Porter protested before them. "Everybody keeps on gettin' at me, tellin' me I can't win, I can't make somethin' of myself, I can't do this, I can't do that… man, I'm sick and tired of it! I am MVP! Montel Vontavious Porter, the biggest thing that's hit Smackdown since my fellow Miamian, the Rock! Hell, I'm even greater than the Rock! I am the greatest Superstar in the history of Smackdown! Not just the highest paid, but the greatest! And come next week, that's a lesson I plan on teachin' you wholesale. And I am gonna be ballin'." To accentuate that last sentence, Porter pretended to shoot a baskteball. Morrison simply sighed and shook his head. "What?"

"You still don't get it, to you?" Morrison rhetorically inquired. "I don't know how many times we in the Coalition have to spell it out. To Cryme Tyme, to R-Truth, and now, even to you. Fake gangster money-money Rich Boy wannabes can never defeat anything that comes from the Palace of Wisdom. You'll see what I mean next." He then walked by MVP, who Miz stepped up to.

"Yeah, boiii!" Miz shouted in MVP's face, before following Johnny.

"Next week, you're gonna be the mop," Tomko then said to MVP, before laying a hand on his shoulder. "All… day… long." With a couple of quick pats and a chuckle, the Problem Solver then followed Miz and Morrison. MVP, meanwhile, got so angry he would kick the wall and walk off as soon as the Coalition members were out of sight.

-

A/N: First things first, thanks to the NBA Live 09 video game, Champion is pretty much the only full song anybody can pick up from Flipsyde's State of Survival album right now, which is coming out around March or April 2009.

Secondly, again with the annoyingly long material. Damn.

Third of all, may the real peeps with reviews please stand up?

Until next time, folks.

-Pac.


	9. Enter the Palace of Wisdom

_**State of Takeover: Cause That's How I Roll!**_ by Instant Classic Superstar Pac

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and this is not linked to any of my other stories.

Rating: T

Summary: Right as she declares unfinished business, Captain Charisma suddenly returns and is talking to her. The result is the first seed of a new Coalition set to turn the world upside down. (Christian, Maryse, Tomko, Morrison, Miz, and an eventual pairing.)

-

NOTE: Bombshell Stephanie was indeed a success. But will the success be for the Coalition, or will it be for MVP and whoever he would decide to take along?

The answer to that question… well, sorry, folks. It's not coming via this chapter.

And speaking of this chapter, I wanna apologize for the fact that I've taken this long to even get here, in addition to explaining myself. I didn't go on any trips or anything, but between a million ideas about other things swirling around in my head and life at home becoming a bit of a roller coaster ride somewhere along the way, my mind never really fully got into writing mode for continuing on with this story. But alas, now I'm ready to make a comeback, because I just owe it to all of my peeps out here who have been wanting to see me see this through. And the time to see it through is now, starting with a pretty fun feature on the house that Morrison… well, the house that I'm willing to bet the character of Morrison has but the real life John Hennigan does not. The Palace of Wisdom.

**Chapter 9: Enter the Palace of Wisdom**

_Event Date: Sunday, October 12, 2008_

Location: John Morrison's Palace of Wisdom, Los Angeles, CA

Entering a parking lot protruding out the side of a somewhat long and mysterious redwood forest road was a black Mercedes Benz whose engine came to a stop just a few seconds later. The doors opened in quick and short order, and from of the driver's side appeared John Morrison, typical relaxed and calm, as well as sporting one of his usual trademark pairs of sunglasses. At the same time, Christian stepped out of the front passenger's side, scanning the area as he would a wrestling audience. Behind him was Maryse, who exited the right side backseat, and Tomko who followed beside her. The Miz stepped out the left side backseat and immediately got to extending his arms out and taking in a breather, before closing the door in the exact same moment as Tomko closed his - Johnny and Christian had closed theirs about a second or so before that, Christian first.

"Well, I don't see anything. Where's the house?" Christian asked after taking a good look around.

"You're not looking carefully enough, Christian, there's an opening in the shrubs," Miz replied, after which Tomko looked through the tall shrubbery and sure enough noticed an opening right in the center.

"Yo, it's over there," the large man stated, getting Christian's attention as he pointed in the direction of the shrubs.

"Alright, let's go," Christian then said as he led Maryse and Tomko in the direction of the gap in the shrubbery. Morrison and Miz looked to one another with smiles and nods on their faces, as if they knew Christian and company were gonna be impressed.

And as they crossed the boundary of the shrubs, Christian and his two first sidekicks found themselves awed at the historic look of the large abode to their left, and the courtyard with a open top four-shaped sidewalk and four small makeshift pools in each corner surrounded by a border lining of healthy grass. The high left left was a fairly long staircase entering boundaries of the palatial building, which at which one would turn right to go up a second staircase, then turn back left and reach the door.

"Wow… this place looks pretty impressive," Tomko remarked, just in time for Johnny and Miz to join him and company on the inside of the grounds.

"Yep. And I'm telling ya, I'm lucky to have found it. Now follow me, guys. Time for the world tour," Johnny stated, before he and Miz turned left and went past the others, who then followed them on the pavement towards and then up the first staircase, where the ancient-looking lighter French beige began.

"Okay, now before anyone quick headedly assumes that it's boring, I think you'll find the place a lot more impressive from the inside," Miz felt the need to say as the group walked on up behind him.

"Hey, I don't bore that easy anyway, so I don't know why you felt the need to say that," Christian remarked.

"Oh, no. I didn't have you in mind. I was actually thinking about Maryse," Miz replied.

"What was that?" Maryse quickly demanded.

"Nothing!" Miz was just as speedy to shout. "I was just saying, cause you could easily get bored. I mean, this doesn't exactly look like your cup of tea from here."

"Well, if you were trying to impress me, I would've said that you weren't doing so good," Maryse remarked.

"Hah!" Tomko chuckled eagerly. "That's kinda funny. Hey Christian, remember back when we were hanging around with-"

"I know where you're going with this one, Tomko, and it's not even close," Christian hastily interrupted his hired muscle turned protégé. This was just at the point as Miz and Morrison had gotten up the final step before the inside turn, the rest of the group about three steps behind. As they approached and started going up the second staircase, Christian ended up stalling for a second, looking at the view of the courtyard from halfway up that second flight of stairs. Tomko quickly noticed when he stopped hearing the footsteps from the guy that brought him in more times than he can count, and who had set up this Coalition in the first place.

"Hey, boss. What's the matter?" Tomko inquired, to which Christian didn't even take any notice. Seeing this, Travis decided to walk down and in Christian's direction and tap him on his shoulder. The Captain sharply turned his way, a little surprised, only for relief to come over his face as he realized it was just the long-bearded large man.

"Oh, it's you," Christian stated, expressing said relief vocally as well. "What's the matter?"

"I see you zoned out and looking over the place. What's up?" Tomko asked.

"Just thinking about how much my wife is gonna love it down here," Christian replied, to which Tomko had to let loose for a little laugh. Christian, the chauvinistic egotistical captain who put this ship together, actually thinking about his wife when checking out something he liked and adding that to its cool points? The Problem Solver didn't think he'd be hearing that anytime soon. "You know what, though?"

"What?" Tomko recited, awaiting the Coalition leader's new take.

"I think I'm gonna like it even better," Christian finished, his usual cocky grin gracing his features once again as he finally kept walking. "Come on, let's get up there and see what this place has in store already." Tomko merely shook his head and followed suit. Even knowing Christian like the back of your own hand doesn't guarantee absolute understanding of what goes through his mind. As a matter of fact, if Tomko knew anything, it's that Christian's brain is always working, which actually guarantees that getting it is never as simple as one would hope. After all, Tomko has been on the distributing end and the receiving end of some of Christian's ingenious plots.

"Took you guys a while," Maryse remarked towards the two as they met her, Morrison, and Miz atop the stairs and right next to the plastic double doors.

"Ready for the fun?" Miz then asked the others.

"Let's ring it in," Christian answered.

"Good answer," Johnny retorted, before finally opening the door. The others came in, Tomko last, and allowed it to close behind them. Once inside the entranceway, the group didn't see any sense of a real difference in the color scheme of the place, but they could better tell that it was in good modern condition.

Before any of this goes any further, it seems like a good idea to describe exactly how the first floor works. See, there are actually four rooms in the corners, as well as a lounging/living room area that was literally the middle ground. These pieces to the first floor all come together in the shape of a square. The middle lounging area was like the filling inside of the square, and the hallway around it and the four rooms in the corners serving as the square's thick lines. Each of the corner rooms actually had two exit doors, connecting it to both sides, and the hallway was connected to the lounging area through narrow pathways in the center of the hall on each side.

The corner room to the near right relative to the front door would be the meditation room, which had a beige-looking altar at the end at the end and contains really cool gold-painted flooring and walls. The room to the near left would be the weight room, filled with self-gratuitous pictures of John Morrison with his abs out draped across half the wall, but enough Bowflex equipment for an all-purpose workout the likes of which has resulted in Johnny's keeping of his terrific physical condition becoming totally predictable. Both rooms actually provided a great view of the outside, as the meditation room windows faced the right end of the courtyard and the weight room faced the parking lot. The room to the far left, which required going to the back either through the middle ground or through the weight room, was actually a gaming room, with the inclusion of both all three major video game systems (accompanied by a moderately large plasma screen TV) and some table sport game sets such as pool and ping pong (the latter of which is also known as table tennis). The room to the far right, which required going through either the lounge area or the meditation room, would be the theater room, which is basically sort of a mini-movie theater with a big screen TV, a DVD player, and a bunch of chairs set up to look like a movie theater, and even a couple of posters hyping up "the John Morrison Wisdom Theater Experience".

In the hallway between the weight and gaming rooms, the outside wall breaks off to reveal an open space with a strong see-through plastic double door leading into an office room, with a laptop computer (with charger) and a filming camera on one desk, and a lot of Morrison pictures and memorabilia on three others set out across the room. Even further out, through a second double door, is a practice wrestling ring. In the hall between the gaming and movie rooms, the wall opens up to reveal yet another double door, entering what seemed to be a kitchen-cafeteria, complete with refrigerator, oven, stove, cooking table, sink, silverware, etc. on one side, and black chairs and round tables on the other. A plastic sliding door at each end leads over to an outer room area with a large and filled square pool set inside along with several blue beach chairs alongside it. Anyway, back to the Coalition just inside the building.

"First place I wanna take you guys here is the middle of this floor. See, the middle room of all this should automatically tell you it's pretty cool right off the bat," Johnny started to explain, as he took them through the hallway. "See, the middle is your typical living room, lounging area type of place. It's got a couple sofas, a couple chairs, a wall unit with cool plates and stuff, and even a radio we could use to blast whenever it's party time in here. But my absolute favorite part, is right in the middle. Take a look at this." Right at this point, he stepped aside, as they had gotten into the middle ground living room he was talking about. They did notice the sofas and chairs lined off to the sides, as well as the gray-orange wall unit, which they deduced the radio must've been inside, but Christian, Maryse, and Tomko were easily caught stopping and glancing at the four tables with a mimosa on each set up in front of a sprinkling water fountain.

"Whoa… I should get out my camera to take a shot of this," Maryse trailed off, utterly awed at the elegant coolness she was seeing before her very eyes. She actually started reaching for her purse after this, presumably to get said camera out.

"Yeah, it's a real sight," Tomko seconded, the matter-of-fact tone in his speech not quite indicative of or able to mask how impressed he was.

"We got six rooms to take you through down here, plus the second floor, which I like to call Mr. Fuji's Huge Temple of Worship and Viewing," Johnny then continued.

"Hold on a second. Mr. Fuji actually lives here?" Christian asked with incredulous tone.

"Yeah, I'll take you to see him a little later on," Morrison responded casually. Christian's confused gaze clearly spoke of confusion and some disbelief.

"Meditation room first, just to get that out of the way," Miz called out to Johnny, then immediately turned back around to lead the group back through the narrow pass into the entrance hallway, then turned in the direction of the door with the medieval-fonted label "Meditation Room" on it.

"Ready to see the room I focus my energies in?" Morrison turned around and asked with a smile as if billing this room as the reason for his success.

"Hey, I don't see why you're looking at me, this is more Tomko's thing," Christian easily retorted, not oblivious to the fact that when Johnny had looked back to hype up the med room, he was facing his way.

"Open up, Miz," Johnny quickly instructed as he turned around. The Miz did as his almost yearlong tag team partner and best friend asked, and Maryse came in first, followed by Tomko, then Christian, then Morrison and Miz, who never bothered to close the door. Standing inside the golden room, Maryse, Tomko, and Christian were almost caught in a wandering reverie, feeling quite relaxed by the gold and sunshine.

"I like it. It's simple and gratuitous in a way with the gold, but it still feels like a place where you can just chill and focus yourself on something," Tomko stated. Morrison was probably thinking "exactly", judging from the smile on his face.

"Yeah, plus you don't even have to meditate to be in here," Christian noticed as well, walking over to the window. "You can still enjoy the view."

"I could use some time in here, if you guys ever annoy me," Maryse chimed in cockily, catching Miz's attention somewhat frowningly. He pretty much knew that she was referring mostly to him, as he talked to her more than anyone else, and he didn't like being called annoying.

"Actually, Maryse, this wouldn't be the best room for you to chill in, but I'll show you that a little later. As for right now, Tomko, I'm about to show you another room both you and I should enjoy. Follow me," Morrison invited, gesturing for the group to follow him as he walked out the door, which was closed by Miz, and led the Coalition past the entrance door all the way to the "Weight Room" labeled door on the other side. Tomko, of course, chuckled as he saw what his long brown haired friend was getting at.

"Contrary to what Johnny thinks, it doesn't take a man with his 'mutant-powered abs' or a big man like Tomko to appreciate the importance of this room," Miz said as he opened the door and led the others inside. "It even has a treadmill and lighter exercise material, so Maryse, you could work it in here if you want to yourself."

"As long as you don't spy on my workouts, I'll be fine," Maryse replied indignantly, looking straight at Miz.

"You're kidding, right?" Morrison asked incredulously in defense of his friend, having figured the Monk of Mojo needed somebody on his side.

"Nope," Maryse answered, quickly turning around and leaving it at that. Christian quietly snickered at it all. Tomko, meanwhile, was already taking a close look at everything in this room. Sure, the wall was annoyingly (not to mention predictably) drenched with poster after poster of Morrison and his abs. But the room itself, specifically all the equipment in it, which was obviously far vaster and more impressive than just barbells and dumbbells, seemed a perfectly good indication as to why he had all those big abs. There weren't just barbells and dumbbells in here; there was also many different types of home gym sets and treadmills, a large number of them being Bowflex products, and all of them impressive-looking and ready for use.

"Can I start up on here right after the tour?" Tomko asked, gesturing towards a Bowflex Revolution home gum he was currently standing next to.

"Good thing you said after the tour, so I can just say yeah," Morrison replied, to which Miz snickered.

"That was more than yeah by about a mile," Christian pointed out to him in case the cause of Miz's reaction had slipped past the Shaman of Sexy, right as Tomko started approaching.

"Impressive set you got here. All you gotta do is turn on the radio, get some drinks set up, and workouts in here could be really good," Tomko noted, much to the shocking surprise of absolutely no one. Partially because they were all thinking the same thing, and partially because Tomko being something of a gym rat, especially considering his size, is never a shocker. Speaking of Tomko, as he just looked at Christian, it seemed as if he had just remembered something.

"Hey, uh, question. You got a game room in here somewhere? Considering how much this guy digs the gaming whenever he gets the chance," Tomko asked Johnny, pointing to Christian so as to emphasize who the game buff is.

"Yeah, we actually do, and it's not all just video games," Johnny replied, briefly patting Tomko's shoulder. "Good thinking bringing that up. Come on, guys, we got a crosscourt trip to take."

So Johnny actually led the group out through the second exit door, leading to the left side hallway, which they continued through and walked on forward headed towards the door to the game room. Johnny then opened that door and walked in first, the gang following suit and noticing both the table game sets and the big screen TV with the three major video game system consoles under it.

"First of all, I wanna announce that I've got copies of _Madden NFL_, _NBA Live_, and _Smackdown vs. Raw 2009_ for all three systems. And those are not the only games that I have," Johnny stated, taking care of that end before Christian asked any questions.

"What else you got cooped up in those drawers?" Christian still asked curiously anyway.

"Let's save that discussion until after the tour is over, please," Miz cut in, not willing to sit through Morrison and Christian pretending to be video game pundits for a second.

"I can tell you right now, I am not gonna be spending as much time in this room as the rest of you," Maryse immediately declared. "Especially since the _Smackdown vs. Raw_ people weren't smart enough to include me."

"Room looks nice, though, I gotta give you that. I'll probably be lookin' real forward to kicking Miz's ass in a couple of games in here," Tomko "observed" somewhat confidently about his chances of beating the Miz.

"Right back at ya, Tomko," Miz indignantly declared. "What am I, the resident get-picked-on-by-the-hot-chick-and-the-big-bearded-goof guy?"

"Travis, the first thing that's gonna happen in here is you're gonna face me in something and lose, and you're gonna have to play one of these table games while waiting wait for me to finish with Johnny and the Miz over here," Christian interjected his way into the banter, gesturing towards the table tennis, hockey, and soccer sets on the other side of the room, only to get slapped in the back of the head, snap and turn around, and see Morrison standing there. "What the hell was that for!?"

"No one beats the master at the Palace of Wisdom," Johnny replied matter-of-factly.

"You may have lived here first, but I'm the champ. I think that makes me the master," Christian quickly retorted.

"You're the master?" Johnny challenged.

"Yeah. What are you gonna do about it?" Christian dared.

"Beat you in _Madden_ using the Raiders first thing after this tour," Johnny soundly answered.

"Oh, snap!" the amazed Miz marked out, to which the now-flustered Christian snapped in his direction.

"Miz!" Christian commandingly shouted, causing the Chick Magnet to actually freeze up. "Wasn't there a room to the side between this and the weight room?"

"Wait, you wanna go there now?" Johnny questioned.

"Yes, moron! Why would I ask that if I wanted to hear you make more claims you can't back up!?" Christian demanded rhetorically. Morrison then tried to put a hand on his shoulder, but he brushed it off.

"Aw, come on, man, you gotta be impossible like that?" Johnny feigned complaint about the Show Stealer's downturn in demeanor.

"Yes, I gotta be impossible like that, because I'm the champ! Stop trying to be funny!" Christian shouted as he stormed right out the door they came in through and then turned right, heading over to the double door and opening one of them to step inside John Morrison's office room. As Christian stopped to look at everything that was inside (laptop, desks, drawers, and memorabilia), he actually ended up putting on a sardonic chuckle.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Johnny suddenly said, he and the rest of the group having followed Christian in.

"Kid," Christian started, turning around with a smile, "this is pretty much almost exactly just like my office!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! John Morrison's office at the Palace of Wisdom is like no other office in office history, pal! Look a little further and you'll see what I mean," Morrison objected, pointing Christian even further forward. He then saw through the transparent wall and double door, the practice wrestling ring.

"Damn, you got everything in here! How the hell d'you find this place?" Christian nearly exclaimed as impressed as he was, walking over to the door to the ring, but not quite reaching and opening it.

"That's sort of a long story, but we don't want this to take forever, so come on. I still got the theater room, the mini-kitchen-cafeteria, and the pool to get to before we head upstairs," Johnny replied.

"You really have all that?" Maryse then asked, her turn to be impressed again.

"Sounds like they do. But don't head to the pool too quick," Tomko mock advised her.

"Shut up," she mock commanded in return.

"Okay, snippy people, come on and let's go," Morrison quickly chided them all, before turning around and leaving, though giving enough time for everyone to follow. Morrison leading the way, they all went through the narrow pass into the middle ground again, turned left, and went through that narrow pass to enter the hallway facing the double door to the kitchen area and theater room.

"Question: kitchen and pool, or theater?" Morrison asked.

"The theater's a quick skim, and if we go to the kitchen, Maryse is gonna go straight to the pool, strip down to her bra and panties, and stay in there for a long time. As desirable as that is, we don't have forever. So I say we just skip it completely until after we go upstairs to see Mr. Fuji," Miz suggested instead, to which Maryse, Christian, and Tomko instantly turned around.

"Mr. Fuji? I almost forgot you said anything about him being here," Christian replied, as it had suddenly come to him.

"You don't even believe that they have him here," Tomko pointed out.

"Yeah, well neither do I," Maryse added.

"We insist that Mr. Fuji is in the building and we will show you where he is," Morrison… well… insisted.

The second floor, meanwhile, basically led way to a huge white church/temple-like room, which presumably was used for worship but actually had television and projection equipment up close to the podium. Near the podium area, on the left wall, was a door, from the other side of which one could hear a bunch of people talking (though not too loudly). Suddenly, about fifteen minutes later…

"Mr. Fuji!" an announcement came over some loudspeakers in a familiar Shaman's voice. "Can you please step out for a minute? Miz and I are coming to see you, and we've got a few friends here who would like to see you as well!" Mere seconds later, the door opened, and while a golden décor could be seen inside, the real story was the old Japanese-looking man slowly walking out with the evil-styled goatee sporting the black top hat and tuxedo and walking gingerly using a cane.

Meanwhile, Christian's Coalition were going up inside an elevator. Up to the church floor.

"…so really, I basically just lucked into finding this place. What makes it really cool is I don't have to pay any mortgage kinda thing," John Morrison was explaining to the others.

"Yeah, and nor do we have to worry about 'disturbing the peace' if we ever have a party," Miz chimed in. This was right as the elevator stopped and the door opened. The Coalition members stepped out and ended up on green flooring surrounded by white walls on each end and windows in front of them, opposite the elevator and the multiple double doors on either side of it. Johnny and Miz led the way out and around to face and open one of the double doors, landing them in the worship area where the old man was currently walking along.

"You know, Christian," Tomko started after seeing the old man, "I really do think they have Mr. Fuji here. Look." He then pointed in the direction of the old man.

"You really think that's Fuji?" Christian asked, still skeptical.

"Hey, he's grown old," Tomko reminded him.

"Yep. It's him. Trust me," Morrison assured the Coalition leader, before turning Fuji's way. "Hey, Mr. Fuji!" He then led them through a couple of rows of church seats, then forward in Mr. Fuji's direction.

"Johnny-san!" the once-noted Japanese master manager started in completely typical fashion. "I see you and Miz-san brought friends."

"Yep. Let me introduce you guys. Fuji, these guys are Christian, Travis Tomko, and Maryse," Miz started, gesturing towards each member to match them with their names. "And guys, this is the legendary Mr. Fuji."

"I can't believe they actually have you here, but pleased to meet ya," Christian greeted the legend, extending a hand out to Fuji. While having to shift his cane to his left hand, Fuji gladly took that hand.

"Likewise. We're big fans o' your work," Tomko began himself as he also shook Fuji's hand. "I've heard a lot about your old success in the WWF."

"Ah, yes, Tomko-san," Fuji acknowledged him specifically, much to his surprise. "Friends from Japan tell me great things about you."

"I think I may actually have to thank some o' your friends for me being as good as I am," Tomko pointed out.

"Did those friends also tell you that I am the Sexiest of the Sexy?" Maryse suddenly decided to inquire for the sake of her own arrogance.

"Are you kidding? That isn't even close to significant enough information for Mr. Fuji's wrestling scholars to reach him about," Morrison retorted, somewhat objecting to the idea that they would waste time over her looks.

-

A/N: Yes, I know. This isn't your typical chapter that you guys were probably expecting. Matter of fact, this probably bored most of you to hell. And I can only blame myself for that, as my own creative juices have been struggling to get into a good flow in the first place due to all the directions and room depictions which quite frankly confused the holy hell out of me. (That's also a part of the reason why this took so long.) The next chapter still spends a couple more minutes at the Palace of Wisdom, just to finish things out with explanations and stuff, but will quickly move on to Raw, as I've had a really big night Tomko-wise on the table for a long time that I would finally like to get to. At least I tried to keep all the banter entertaining, if that even says much for me on this one.

Well, I guess I'll see you guys later. If this chapter was bitingly sub-par, I apologize. The reasoning behind it was that I wanted to establish John Morrison and Miz's character claims about Mr. Fuji and the Palace of Wisdom as actually being legit in this story. Even though this, save for a few jokes, is probably my worst chapter of all, I felt that I needed to in the hopes that this new source of material established in it would be worth it for later times.

On one positive note, the United States of America now has a president that is actually a man. And I still haven't even gotten close to the part where John Morrison makes a remark about him winning the election yet, because the story is still dated almost a month before it ends… **damn**, I'm behind.

Let's hope I can do some catching-up and make it good, peeps. Peace while I do that.

-Pac.


	10. Double Duty

_**State of Takeover: Cause That's How I Roll!**_ by Instant Classic Superstar Pac

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and this is not linked to any of my other stories.

Rating: T

Summary: Right as she declares unfinished business, Captain Charisma suddenly returns and is talking to her. The result is the first seed of a new Coalition set to turn the world upside down. (Christian, Maryse, Tomko, Morrison, Miz, and an eventual pairing.)

-

NOTE: I'm back now, folks. And since last chapter sucked, or at the very least could be described as filler, I intend to seriously do something major for this one.

**Chapter 10: Double Duty**

_Event Date: Sunday, October 12, 2008_

Location: John Morrison's Palace of Wisdom, Los Angeles, CA

About 26 minutes or so later, Christian's Coalition was now sitting down with Mr. Fuji at one of the black round tables in in the dining room. Well, Christian, Fuji, Morrison, and Tomko were seated at one of the tables. Miz and Maryse had to take and turn around two chairs seated at the tables next to the main one on opposite sides, only the former actually paying attention to the conversation.

"Wait, so you're telling me that church room on the second floor actually holds a small village?" Christian asked, curious over something that Morrison had just told him.

"Yeah, and you know what's really cool about it? They don't just do meditation and worship stuff in there," Johnny continued to explain. "Let me tell you an example. The temple… well, first of all, there's a funny story involved here. First time I showed Miz the temple, he came up with this idea based on Harold & Kumar, where basically we made a video of being wowed by the place, called it 'Miz & Morrison Go To White Church', and posted it on the Dirt Sheet."

"Hey, that would've been a great idea too, you know," Miz immediately contended. "You were just too stubborn and stupid to pull the trigger on it. We could've gotten loads of people, both ordinary and super famous, _flocking_ to seek enlightenment in here."

"I'm gonna tell ya the same thing I told you back when you first suggested the idea, and I'm gonna keep telling you this every time you do," Johnny started, to which Miz puffed in frustrated disbelief. "You want loads of people, Miz, or do you want quality people? Because that's what we have, and I'm proud of it. Just ask Mr. Fuji."

"Sorry, Miz-san, but Johnny-san is right," Fuji added at that point. "Remember, the Undertaker stands superior even to six goons."

"Yeah. Quantity trumps quality, I thought you would know," Christian chimed in.

"Seriously? Everybody's siding against me? This is a major cheap shot, you guys! This isn't funny!" Miz immediately complained.

"No, it's not a major cheap shot, it's just fact," Tomko said, Maryse groaning at the exact same moment he started talking (and for the same reason). "And not because it's you that came up with the idea, either. We don't want sheep, we want peeps who really appreciate us."

"Well said, Tomko," Christian acknowledged. "But hey, look, let's get off that. Johnny, how much footage do you have on that laptop in your office?"

"Footage? What, of WWE stuff?" Johnny asked.

"Yeah," Christian confirmed.

"I host a show, so I got direct email contact with Kevin Dunn. Which means, I have proxy access to the entire WWE video library," Johnny replied, taking Christian aback. "Anything I want, I can just ask Kev for it, and he sends it to me in attachments."

"Does he ever ask why?"

"He knows it's either for the Dirt Sheet or to study up opponents, so there's no reason for him to ask," Miz cut in and retorted condescending towards Christian. Captain Charisma, knowing what he was doing, just looked at him and replied with a hearty chuckle.

"Are you thinking about studying up for the match against Priceless?" Maryse then asked him.

"Actually, I was thinking more about Jericho, even though I already know him like the back of my hand," Christian corrected her. "I trust you guys to scout Priceless if you think you need to, though obviously I'd advise it anyway. And Tomko," he continued, quickly turning to the Problem Solver, "you better hit the weight room, and use the treadmill more than the weights. If you're gonna be ready for what we're gonna do tomorrow, you absolutely can't get worn out."

"Got it," Tomko accorded, before getting up from his seat and leaving the kitchen, no doubt heading in the direction of the weight room.

"Hey, shouldn't we all scout both oppositions together?" Johnny suddenly suggested, Christian nodding impressed at the sign of gameplan thinking on the Shaman of Sexy's part.

"Actually, though, I was thinking we could add Batista to that equation as well," the Show Stealer then replied. "Can't forget we got huge goals to go over him too."

_Event Date: Monday, October 13, 2008_

Location: Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA

Monday Night Raw was filled with anticipation because of the reactions to General Manager Mike Adamle's revelation that "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, "Captain Charisma" Christian, "the Legend Killer" Randy Orton, and "the Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels were all potential guest referees for Chris Jericho's Cyber Sunday World Heavyweight Championship defense against Batista. A lot of the hoopla surrounding the event consisted of the distinct possibility that Stone Cold would be making another appearance tonight, and the guarantee, thanks to Christian having any match of his choosing against Jericho tonight as well as the rest of his pals doing duty against Priceless, that Captain Charisma and the Christian Coalition would also be in the house. Believe it or not, the anticipation for Raw tonight was higher than it's been in months.

So imagine the letdown at the beginning of the program when, following the billing of Christian vs. Jericho in a "Christian's Choice" match and Christian's Coalition against Team Priceless, basically making Christian's Coalition the story of the night over anything else going on tonight, the tunnel sound with the blue graphic countdown was the sight and sound of the arena, followed by a certain fizzle and fireworks burst, leading up to "Save Me", the new version of Chris Jericho's theme "Break the Walls Down". Of course, the Savior Self came out to a loud chorus of boos, and simply walked down the ramp with that stoic, unfazed scowl gracing his features… is one could call that gracing. Down the ramp, Jericho simply came over to the steps, climbed them up, entered the ring through the ropes, then stood in the center of the ring slowly looking across the entire crowd, before calling to the timekeeper to give him a microphone. As he got his mike, the music finally faded out and the music returned to normal.

Chris Jericho did not even respect the chorus of boos that was supposed to serve as his pause long enough to let it finish.

"As much as you people claim to hate me, you're certainly proving to be experts at telling me that I am doing something absolutely right," Chris began, still getting booed heavily for his troubles, though this soon died down. "If what Christian told us last week serves anything, then I guess it is safe to say that you fans are most definitely showing me that I matter." And of course, they booed once again, falling right into his trap. He simply looked at them with a smirk on his face. "As much as I'd love to continue watching you people make fools out of yourselves because true honest integrity ruffles your feathers in a way very much unlike my former comical tact, I would like to move on to the subject of what happened to me last week on Raw. And if I may say so myself, the entire night was nothing more than an absolute travesty. It was a sham, a conspiracy, and a mockery of justice, all intended to stonewall me from my path to retain an honest reign as the World Heavyweight Champion." The jeering only continued. So did the Ayatollah.

"First, there was the utter disrespect shown to me on the part of General Manager Mike Adamle, and of course the Executive Vice President Shane McMahon, scheduling to defend my championship against a special guest referee in a match that will take place a week from this Sunday, at _Cyber_ Sunday, in Phoenix, Arizona. Then the disrespect continued, furthered by my old friend 'Captain Charisma' Christian, forcing me into a match for tonight, but not just any match. A match of Christian's choice," he sneered in disgust, an emotion only heightened in him by the approval of the fans at the guaranteed prospect of these matches.

"The humiliation only goes on further, too. While I was conducting my business, that meddling charlatan Shawn Michaels decided to get in my way once again, and then Mike Adamle announced the four names that were on the poll for guest referee. All of those names proved to me that the WWE is biased against me standing a chance because they know that if I am given a field without an official obsessed with screwing me out of the title, then there is no way that I can ever lose," he flatly accused, which did not go over well with the people at all. "Obviously, you people don't believe me because you're caught up in your myopic worldviews and your obsessions with every wrestler in the world being exactly the same and kissing your royal feet like John Cena, but allow me to provide you a history lesson to prove my point without a shadow of a doubt.

"First off, there's Randy Orton," Jericho began. The aforementioned Orton's name also earned some heat with the crowd, proving to Jericho that he wasn't the only one hated around here. "Everyone knows the history that Randy Orton and I have had facing one another while he was a member of Evolution. Not to mention he's already proven that he's not above shaking the entire World Heavyweight Championship picture upside down to make an impact and get himself noticed, and what better way to do that again than to directly cost me the championship?" A small mixed reaction ensued.

"The next man announced in the poll last week was, of course… the Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels." The fans now began to explode into cheers at the sound of Michaels' name. "Anyone who doesn't know the history between Shawn Michaels and myself, and the jealousy that he feels for my integrity," his diatribe continued to a burst of boos, "should not even bother trying to keep up with this show anymore." He continued to wait out the jeering of the fans.

"Poll contestant number three would be that utterly brazen failure they call Christian," the Savior Self went on, only to be interrupted by yet another loud burst of cheers from the crowd, this one morphing into chants of Christian's name which actually successfully shut him up for a few seconds. "Christian is the same man who once pulled one of the cruelest jokes on me with another one of your heroes, the legendary Trish Stratus. Since then I have done nothing but defeat, outsmart, and humiliate him at every turn over the next 16 months, including forcing him to wrestle in one of the most nauseating superhero outfits I have ever seen in my life. I have no doubts that he is here seeking revenge against me, no matter what he says on Smackdown about only being interested in the match against Shawn Michaels." A mixed reaction came about this time, mostly consistent of cheers.

"Last… but not least… is the Texas Rattlesnake, 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin," Jericho stated with a darker tone to his voice… as the crowd went absolutely wild in reply! On top of what was easily the loudest pop of the night, arena wide chants of "Austin! Austin!" were now heard so loudly it was as if the entire arena was wrapped into doing it! "I have been bragging for the last seven years about that December night in 2001 where I beat both the Rock and Steve Austin in separate matches to become the first ever Undisputed Champion. What more direct form of payback is there for 'Austin 3:16' than to screw me out of my World Championship?"

"This match scheduled for Cyber Sunday is a conspiracy against me, and I am protesting it right now. Mike Adamle, if you do not come out to this ring, grow a single ounce of courage, defy Shane McMahon, and call this title match off, then I will walk out of the arena the day of the pay-per-view, fly back home to my wife, and take my championship with me so that it may never be used for the WWE again," Jericho threatened with rock solid anger, which promptly soured the fans against him more than they had been the entire night. However, no sooner did he begin to open his mouth once again than a certain guitar riff interrupted his promo.

Hearing the beginning of Batista's theme song, "I Walk Alone" by Saliva, the fans went on their feet in approval as the Animal came out dressed looking like a biker except with light brown sunglasses and no bandana on. Of course, at the appropriate point in the music, Batista did his crouching machinegun thrust motion on the ramp, invoking the usual gunner-like show of pyro at the stage. In a fast grinning stride, Batista walked down the ramp, then quickly dashed up the steps and through the ropes to get into the ring, before heading over to his favorite turnbuckle and quickly flexing his muscles to the glee of the fans. Batista then came down from the turnbuckle and took out a microphone which he already had in his rear pants pocket, as his music died out and his name became the chant of the next ten seconds.

"Well, whaddya know? It seems the 'honest man' Chris Jericho is in his usual cheerful mood tonight," Batista took sarcastic notice, earning a light round of applause from a few fans. "And as usual, Jericho, your pathetic crying and whining is making me sick. In all the whining about the history you have with the four guest referee options, you completely forgot about mine."

"What in the blue world are you talking about?" Jericho interrupted the Animal to ask… and to receive yet another round of jilted reaction from the audience. "I don't care what kind of history you claim to have with these four men, Batista, because their history with me is what is painfully obvious here. Therefore making it even more painfully obvious that Shane McMahon and Mike Adamle are out to screw me at Cyber Sunday just so these hypocrites can feel like their votes actually counted for something-"

"SHUT UP!" Batista immediately shouted Jericho's way, getting an even more rousing chord of approval from the fans for this than for his entrance, as well as accomplishing the desired reaction of shutting up the arrogant blonde. "If you would actually _listen_ to me instead of once again trying to put yourself over as the victim who's morally higher than everyone else, you would know that I have no more reason to be happy about the four choices for guest referee than you do, which is exactly the way it should be!" As the people cheered Batista's rebuttal once again, Chris Jericho actually looked down like he was pondering something.

"Okay, then," Jericho finally decided once the crowd died down. "I'm open to listening. Say what you have to say. Prove to me that there's nothing in all of this about anyone being your friend that can be chosen to be the special guest referee."

"Well, let's just start with the obvious; Randy, Orton," Batista started, the Legend Killer's name producing a huge mixed crowd. "When he became the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in WWE history, Triple H, Ric Flair, and I personally turned on him, put him out to pasture, and buried him beneath our feet. I sincerely doubt he's ever gotten over that since." With that point presented, the crowd cheered in approval.

"Speaking of Randy Orton and people who all of Evolution had a history with, that leads me to Stone Cold Steve Austin. We both know he has quite the history with Ric Flair, tons with Triple H, and a very big particle of it with me. Back in 2003, Chris, remember that Survivor Series match you and Orton were on the same team in? The one where he beat Shawn Michaels as the sole survivor? The one that was to determine whether Stone Cold or Eric Bischoff would be keeping the GM post on Raw?" Batista reminded him, taking a pause so as to wait for the moment to come to Jericho. "If I remember correctly, you guys were on Bischoff's team, and come to think of it, I think Christian was, too-"

"Will you just get to the point, monkey?" Chris harshly cut him off, this demand not going over well with the people at all.

"Good. You remember," Batista surmised Well, you guys were on Bischoff's team, and if it wasn't for ME, Batista Bombing Shawn Michaels right into the ground, then Randy Orton would've never pinned the man. I was the man who ended Stone Cold Steve Austin's time as the General Manager of Raw!" At the seemingly boastful recall of that event, the crowd mostly turned on Batista, though some understood his poitn and continued to cheer.

"Are you sure you wanna keep turning your precious parasitic Animal Lovers against you, Batista, just to prove this point to me?" Jericho asked, clearly noticing the shift in fan reaction and trying to psyche the Animal out.

"As much as I love these fans, wrestling is not a popularity contest," Batista asserted immediately. The people of Anaheim proved to fully agree with him. "A point which I'm gonna continue to prove, because you'd have to be an idiot not to know the recent history between me and Shawn Michaels. I do not like Shawn Michaels, I don't trust Shawn Michaels, and I wouldn't be surprised if Shawn Michaels kicked me in the head either. And if you think I'm not lookin' over my shoulder at all over Christian, who I've beaten down a couple times in the past for talking smack to me _and_ who's now all of a sudden in the business of coming up with plans and establishing Coalitions, then you're sadly mistaken.

"Point is, Chris, there's nobody on that guest referee poll who I'm good friends with right now or who I plan to buddy up to, so Jericho, quit crying about the guest refeees not liking you before I take both of these microphones and shove them down your throat!" Batista commanded- only to find himself interrupted midway into the deed by the violin intro which led up to Waterproof Blonde's "Just Close Your Eyes", erupting the audience!

In just a few seconds, Christian and Travis Tomko both came out in street clothes, with Christian holding onto a microphone and straightening his shirt a little as they stood at the stage. After standing there for a few seconds and taking some time to admire the Peepulation that was out in full force for Christian, even pointing to some fans in unison at once a couple of times, Christian and Tomko turned to Batista and Jericho as Christian raised the microphone up to his mouth, the music fading out as he was now ready to speak.

"Chris; Dave; our old friends! How've you guys been?" Christian sarcastically greeted with a phony smile the two opponents in the next match for the World Heavyweight Title, which ironically (or not) put the entire crowd on his side. "Funny thing is, I didn't wanna come out here until you guys were done bickering like little girls, but Maryse just couldn't stop groaning at everything the two of you were saying, so Johnny and Miz insisted on me and Tomko coming out here to see about settin' somethin' a little straight around here." Once again, the Peeps replied to this by proving who they were for, as Chris Jericho and Batista looked completely flustered.

"You know, Christian, every time you appear like this, you make yourself look like even more of a disingenuous con man than you were before," Chris accused him immediately, turning the fans sour in a flash. "If there's one thing that Batista and I can both agree on, it's that you do not deserves to be the special guest referee for this match at Cyber Sunday."

"Hey Jerky, you might wanna stop telling me that I don't deserve something when it's basically just trying to drop itself right into my lap before I even considered it. How many times do I have to tell you, or Batista, or anybody else, that what I want is the match with Shawn Michaels? I don't even wanna be the special guest referee!" Christian tried to get through the thick skulls of the rivals in the ring, much to a mixed reaction of a crowd generally on his side.

"Just like you wanted a match with John Morrison and the Miz, huh?" Batista pointed out.

"That match is still gonna happen down the line, so let's face it, Batista. You haven't exactly proven anything from what you just said. Miz and Morrison have faced each other in matches and come out of it still the best of friends and tag team partners, and it's been happening that way for a long time," Christian retorted immediately. "Matter of fact, I'd say they're the first tag team I've seen be able to do that here for a long time. So just because we are the Christian Coalition doesn't mean we can't have a little competition along the way."

"Can you just get to the point of why you guys are even here right now? Because Batista and I were actually having a conversation of the big boys. Important people were talking here who actually have the intestinal fortitude to enter this ring while talking to each other-"

"Would you just shut your mouth and let him run his?" Batista immediately cut Jericho off at the pass, to which the crowd leapt with approval once more.

"So Christopher the Snob and David the Bully finally agree on something. What a lovely picture, huh?" Christian wittily concluded, before getting to business. "Actually, to be honest… competition is actually why we're here. See, last week, your General Manager Mike Adamle gave me the option of competing in a match against you of my choice tonight, Chris, so I just thought it was fair if I told you what my choice is. Our main event tonight, my friend, is gonna be a tag team match. It'll be the World Heavyweight Championship match for Cyber Sunday against the Christian Coalition. The two of you against the two of us. Chris Jericho and Batista against 'the Problem Solver' Travis Tomko and 'Captain Charisma' Christian!" What a huge swerve! Jericho and Batista actually being asked to team up against Christian and his Problem Solver! While the crowd went positively wild much to the glee of the grinning Christian and Tomko, and Batista just looked totally shocked and speechless, Jericho was slowly reduced to shaking his head in denial.

"No. No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!" the Ayatollah sounded off in complete denial that this was happening. "This match cannot happen!" And his complaining once again angered the crowd. "I refuse to compete in a 3-on-1 handicap match!"

"You'd be competing in a 3-on-1 handicap match? Please! You are the least trustworthy person out of everyone here!" Batista shouted.

"This coming from the guy who expects us to all of a sudden forget that he used to be a member of Evolution, a group that was all about backstabbing all of integrity for Triple H, just because he 'likes' the fans now?" Jericho counter-reasoned defiantly.

"In case you missed the memo, I am proud of my time in Evolution. Triple H and Ric Flair taught me everything that I know about understanding the ins and outs of this business!" Batista continued to shout.

"Including how to betray your own best friends!" Jericho eagerly remarked.

"Stop shootin' off like stupid little babies and close your mouths **right now**!" Tomko finally spoke up, having taken Christian's microphone, and being thanked by a loud audience for his commanding sound in silencing the bickering rivals as he handed the microphone back to Christian.

"The fact is, whether you accept the match or not, it doesn't matter. It's my pick. I chose this match, and I say this match goes," Christian reminded everyone as the fans approved and the enemies disapproved once again. "And if I may make a suggestion, I think you two animals better kiss and make up and learn to coexist and get along before the show's over, because if you don't, then we might just surprise you. And if I were you guys, I wouldn't wanna be one of the guys coming back to the Raw locker room as the main event for the World Heavyweight Championship yet still unable to beat a couple midcarders from Smackdown."

"You know, it would be quite the embarrassing situation if it turned out I was actually afraid of losing to the two of you, but I'm not. What I'm concerned about is this conniving gorilla standing next to me taking the opportunity to turn on me and abandon me in the middle of the match the second I even begin to annoy him, thus causing great harm and damage to me to the point where I can't even be 100 percent to compete at Cyber Sunday," Jericho stated to boos, as Tomko once again took the mike on his side from Christian.

"Gee whiz, Jericho. I thought you'd be happy to pounce on a chance to beat me and Christian up. You seemed to have no problem doing it in the past," Tomko pointed out. "Besides, tonight you got a huge advantage. Because before I even do this thing, I already have a match with Miz and Morrison against Team Priceless. Now, why Christian would get me into two matches, I don't know, but maybe he can tell ya." That somewhat facetious reply led to Christian getting the mike back.

"Reason one is because if anybody can do two tag team matches in a single night right now, especially how he's been working out over the week, I had to pick Tomko," Christian began to explain. "And reason two is…" He paused to thump his chest and point a kiss to a side of the audience, giving his Peeps the heads up on what he was gonna say, before continuing with everyone in tow: "…because that's how I roll!"

As Christian's music came back on, the fans were brightly cheering and Christian and Tomko were widely grinning. Batista was still looking completely dumbfounded and Jericho shaking his head and scowling, completely humiliated by Christian. This was the scene that Captain Charisma and the Problem Solver turned their backs to as they retreated backstage seconds before the show went to commercial break.

Once the program came back some three minutes later, Christian and Tomko were walking through the back area when…

"Christian! Tomko!" an unimpressive-sounding someone called, running over to them from behind. They turned around and caught sight of Josh Matthews with a microphone.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on a second. Josh; you still work here?" Christian quipped, somewhat surprised to see the young."

"Uh, yeah, that's actually what I came to do, my job," Josh replied, trying to be witty. He didn't exactly fail, though, Christian had to give him that. "Anyway, guys, after what we just saw out there, everyone is just totally confused right now. Because Tomko, you already have a match against Team Priceless, which consists of Ted DiBiase, Cody Rhodes, and Manu. Why in the world would you wanna put yourself in the position of wrestling two matches tonight?"

"Well, I don't know if you missed it," Tomko started, "but kid, I believe Christian said something about me working out real hard over this past week. And the fact is, I have. But I also took a break all day yesterday so I could keep myself fresh for tonight. Now let's think about the two matches that I've been put in for just a second. You got one match that's actually a six-man tag, so I'm sharing the workload with two guys who have become the best tag team in all of WWE, and in the other match, I'm teaming up with my longtime friend and partner Christian against two guys who can't even look each other in the eye and act like normal people. This ain't just about working hard, Josh: it's also about working smart. Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta find John Morrison and the Miz. Keep him busy, Christian." Oddly enough, as he walked off on his own, that whole scene sounded and looked like Tomko was the leader! Christian smiled widely at that, clearly impressed with the big man as he watched him leave for a few seconds.

"Tomko did have a great point in stating how Chris Jericho and Batista can't stand each other," Josh admitted, Christian's grin turning his way now. "But how did you manage to even come up with the idea?"

"Josh, look at me," Christian commanded, causing Matthews to pay even more attention to him than he was already doing so. "Are you serious? A guy who I once completely embarrassed from pillar to post at WrestleMania is the World Heavyweight Champion, there's a clear opportunity to pull another one over his head, and you think I'm not gonna take it? Who exactly do you think I am here? The guy who just sits there and waits for everybody else to take initiative until he's shoved into the back o' the line? You must've missed Smackdown the last few weeks. I'm 'Captain Charisma' Christian. And where there's me, there's always a royal flush to watch out for."

"A royal flush to watch out for?" Josh repeated in question form.

"Ah-!" Christian immediately shut him up. "You know what, kid? Come with me. Let's find the interview monitor. I want you to see what happens with my peeps in some 10-15 minutes when they take out Team Priceless. Come on."

And so Christian and Josh Matthews set out on an adventure of their own.

About seven minutes later, after Mickie James and Katie Lea fought to a no contest only to be attacked by Beth Phoenix, John Morrison was hanging out with Maryse and the Miz outside the Coalition's special dressing room.

"Tomko gonna be here? And where exactly is Christian, anyway?" Morrison asked, curious as the time for their own match was approaching yet the Problem Solver was nowhere in sight.

"He told us to meet him in the locker room after the match, so I think he's planning something. But I don't know what," Maryse recalled certain instructions, only for

"Hey, guys," a certain voice suddenly called to them. As they looked to their general left, they saw the big tattoed man himself, Travis Tomko, still in street clothes, unlike Morrison and Miz with their own signature wrestling pants and Miz's Chick Magnet shirt and Yin-Yang top hate and Morrison's fur coat.

"Is the door open?" Tomko asked them first thing.

"Yeah, sure," Johnny replied, as Tomko made his way towards it. "Hey, just curious, though; what took you so long?"

"Ah. Guess I probably got a little lazy or something," Travis answered as he opened the door and stepped about two steps inside, simply taking off his skullcap and black tank top, before stepping right back out and closing the door up again.

"So, we ready to go?" Tomko asked the others, leaving them slightly dumbfounded especially at the overconfidence this was showing here.

"Uh… aren't you supposed to be getting your tights on?" Maryse hesitated to ask.

"Y… Y'know, I… somehow… don't, think he needs it," Johnny remarked, steadily regaining his own senses as well.

"Uh… I actually agree with this," Miz suddenly decided aloud. "I mean, come on. We got a big huge Problem Solver who's a hell of a lot better than he was before, competing along side the greatest tag team, of the 21st century… is it really that necessary to don the tights against Priceless?"

"Think about it, Miz. No, it's not," Tomko replied in "duh" tone. "So, let's take it to the house. Come on." On that note, the Problem Solver started walking on ahead, a task which his Coalition partners eagerly followed suit about.

-

A/N: First off, sorry I've taken ages to update as far as this fic goes. Let's just say that I've been a little sidetracked with some help that I've been dishing out to others and writing time really hasn't come in bundles for me lately, until the past few days (and that was actually spent on my _Charmed_ fanfic).

Secondly, I seriously should be finishing the night (meaning Raw). Unfortunately, I haven't don't want any single chapter to take up too many pages, plus I just waned everybody to know that this is not dead. Next chapter will feature the Coalition's matches on Raw. And I don't plan on taking this long to get to it at all.

See ya later, peeps and alligators.

-Pac.


	11. Solutional Glory

_**State of Takeover: Cause That's How I Roll!**_ by Instant Classic Superstar Pac

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and this is not linked to any of my other stories.

Rating: T

Summary: Right as she declares unfinished business, Captain Charisma suddenly returns and is talking to her. The result is the first seed of a new Coalition set to turn the world upside down. (Christian, Maryse, Tomko, Morrison, Miz, and an eventual pairing.)

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NOTE: Told you the next update wasn't gonna take as long as the last one did. Now, ladies and gentlemen, get ready to enjoy the action.

**Chapter 11: Solutional Glory**

_Event Date: Monday, October 13, 2008_

Location: Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA

Not too long after Christian's Coalition started walking off for the tunnel position - just a couple minutes, as a matter of fact - the theme song "Priceless" hit the speakers, and out came the multi-generational superstar unit of the same name: the naturally coolly arrogant Ted DiBiase, the strutting rogue Cody Rhodes, and the menacing Manu. As the three walked down the ramp, they were jeered by a good section of the crowd or two. Once down the ramp, Ted got on the apron and to the near right turnbuckle, while Cody and Manu (Cody running first) went up the steel steps and crossed the ropes to enter the ring, before approaching DiBiase. The World Tag Team Champions DiBiase and Rhodes held their belts up in the air while Manu raised both of his arms up in between them, arousing the jeers a bit further, before the music faded out and DiBiase went off the turnbuckle into the ring.

Travis Tomko's theme, the edited "Screwed", came on shortly afterwards, and the crowd erupted into a sea of cheers as the trio of Tomko, John Morrison, and the Miz, complete with Maryse and an army of cheers behind them. They all quickly went about doing their poses on the stage, before Tomko led the way down the ramp, Miz and Morrison flanking him on either side and Maryse in the back of them all. Miz got up on the apron and stuck his leg out cockily, while Morrison and Tomko went up the steel steps, before they all crossed the ropes to enter the ring. Each man went to a turnbuckle, and while Miz decided to simply shoot off at the mouth full of confidence, Morrison did his usual arm theatrics except finishing it off by pointing to the crowd, and Tomko did his normal crowd point into momentary strong pose routine, before they all came down and met up in their corner.

As the music faded out, with both teams in meeting up in their corners and deciding on starters, the bell was officially rung to start the match. Tomko and Cody Rhodes were the men decided for their teams to start the match. The two men circled around for a brief time, before locking up in the center of the ring. Tomko, clearly having the power advantage, backed Rhodes into a neutral corner and let go with a clean break after the referee's disqualification count got to two. After taking the ref's admonishment, Tomko went back after Rhodes, only to be met with a thumb to the eye and an immediate dropkick to the knees, taking him down face first. Rhodes then got back up and got behind Tomko to pick up the Problem Solver's right leg and smash it down into the ground. After repeating this action a couple of times, Cody rolled over Tomko and covered him. 1, 2, Tomko easily kicked out.

Rhodes then quickly got up and walked towards Tomko, who picked himself up in the corner, then hit Tomko with three right hands and tried to irishwhip him, only for Tomko to reverse it and meet Cody's return by picking him up sideways and hitting a sidewalk slam. Tomko then got up, his right leg making it just a little difficult, and tagged in John Morrison, who slowly approached Rhodes and waited until the second-generation superstar got up. Morrison then went for a clothesline, which Rhodes quickly ducked before kicking him in the midsection as soon as they turned around and going for a vertical suplex. Morrison escaped and landed on his feet behind Rhodes, then reached behind him and hit a neck breaker. Morrison then got up, picked Rhodes up by the head, and hit him with a couple of forearms, before shooting him off the ropes and going for a dropkick, which Cody avoided by holding onto the ropes on the other side, and then flipping over for a jackknife pin cover on Morrison, who kicked out after two. Morrison and Rhodes both quickly got up, following which Johnny ducked a clothesline from Cody and quickly maneuvered into a Russian legsweep. Johnny then got up and dragged Cody by the leg towards the Coalition corner, where he picked up Cody by the head again and tagged in the Miz.

Miz came into the ring and kicked Cody in the midsection, following which he and Johnny got behind Cody and both picked him up belly-to-back and slammed him face first into the ground. Johnny then left the ring as Miz covered Cody, who managed a kickout after two. Miz then went to pick up Rhodes once again, but the Prince of Pro Wrestling (as his tights once said) managed to jerk his arms away and hit Miz with a rear mat slam, before dragging him over to the Priceless corner and tagging in Ted DiBiase.

Ted then kicked Miz's arm loose which Cody was holding, as Cody went to the apron and Ted dropped a knee onto Miz's arm. Ted then covered Miz, who kicked out after two, before dragging him to the center of the ring and locking in an armbar. After about ten seconds, DiBiase let go of the arm and got up, only to hit a falling fist drop on that same right arm of the Miz. DiBiase then entered a mount position and started punching away at the Miz's face, following which he went for a cover with a forearm in Miz's face. Miz kicked out after two, favoring his right arm a bit as he tried to pick himself up. DiBiase then got up, picked up the Miz, tagged in Manu, and got off a snap mare, following which Manu came in and sharply kicked the seated Miz down on his back. Manu covered Miz, and again the Chick Magnet kicked out and favored his right arm. Manu picked up the Miz, then wrench his right arm and painfully holding the position until he was able to get behind the Miz and hit him with a good backdrop suplex. As Maryse looked on concerned for her team, the son of Afa the Wild Samoan then hooked the leg of the Miz for a cover. 1, 2, kickout by the Miz.

Manu then ran off the ropes and dove for a head butt drop on the Miz's arm, which worked, before working the Chick Magnet into a light armbar. Maryse started screaming words of encouragement at the Miz, telling him that he could do it, while Ted and Cody were watching from their side and Ted shouting instructions to Manu to keep the armbar locked in. Michael Cole and Jerry "the King" Lawler, who'd spent much of the time they were supposed to be calling the match talking about the ingenuity and brash arrogance involved in Christian's Coalition, finally now noted that the attack on Miz's arm was possibly a way to keep in check the second portion of his Reality Check finisher combo. About half a minute into the hold, the crowd started to get behind the Miz, which Maryse used to her advantage, starting a "Let's Go Miz!" chant and pacing it by hitting the ring apron. Though it didn't draw in the entire arena, it caught on quickly, which Miz built off of in order to fight his way to his feet and use his left arm, which was actually the main arm he used to strike opponents, to deliver a jawbreaker to Manu to force himself loose. As Manu staggered and shook the cobwebs from that happening, Miz picked himself up using the ropes, just in time for Manu to recover from the jawbreaker and start charging his way. Miz then used his good arm to low-bridge the ropes, causing Manu to fall over to the outside, to which the fans actually cheered for the Miz. Miz then walked over to his corner and tagged in John Morrison, who quickly seized up Manu as he raised up and ran to hit the Samoan Storm with a baseball slide under the ropes. Morrison then went to the apron damn near next to DiBiase and Rhodes and got up on the turnbuckle on the side away from them, waiting a few seconds so that Manu could get up before leaping backwards to take him down with a high moonsault!

Ted DiBiase then seized up Johnny and waited for him to get up from that so he could crash down on him with a double axe handle, only to find himself caught in mid-air and rammed into the ring post by Tomko! The Problem Solver had seen Ted's move coming and come around to intercept it! Cody, however, was able to come down and shove Tomko shoulder first into the same ring post from behind once DiBiase fell to the floor and out of the way. Rhodes followed Tomko around the post and into the ring, then tried to hit him with a group of right hands which backed him into the corner but didn't faze him considerably. Tomko eventually responded with a huge shove knocking Cody flat on his ass, to which the Son of the Dream quickly got up and rushed right into a big clothesline by the Problem Solver! As Tomko got up, Miz came back into the ring and told Tomko to shoot him towards Rhodes, who was now getting up in the corner. Tomko agreed and, after going to the opposite corner, irishwhipped Miz in Cody's direction as he performed his leaping rope seat clothesline into the corner on Cody and it connected. However, he wasn't able to get out of the ropes to help Tomko capitalize, because Manu, who just recovered from that Morrison moonsault while Johnny and Ted were fighting on the outside, just pulled Miz out of the ring, picked him up, and rammed him into the apron. In the ring, Tomko had Cody hoisted up on his shoulders upside down, but Manu slid in and hit Tomko from behind to force Cody free. Manu then tried to choke Cody on the top rope, but after a second and a half, Tomko elbowed him away.

As Tomko turned around, the two big men now engaged in a fist fight of their own. DiBiase was able to get up on the aprn briefly and hit Tomko from behind before getting pulled back down by Morrison, giving Manu an opportunity to irishwhip Tomko, then to trap him in and get him with a powerful belly to belly side suplex. Manu covered Tomko now. 1… 2… Tomko kicked out! On the outside, DiBiase was able to thrust his knee into Morrison's gut, briefly stunning Johnny so that Ted could send him into the ring. DiBiase went in after Morrison, but as Manu got Tomko in the corner to start punching him, Morrison was able to get enough room away from Ted until he suddenly picked himself up and spring boarded off the ropes to catch Ted with a major leaping roundhouse kick! Cody got up and tried to kick Morrison in the gut, but Johnny caught the kick, shoved his boot down, and caught him with a spinning heel kick! Manu now tried to shoot Tomko into the opposite corner, but Tomko reversed with enough force that Manu bounced off said corner staggering forward, then knocked Manu straight down with a boot to the chest. Tomko then let out a lion-like roar, hinting that he was ready to finish this thing.

DiBiase, however, was able to turn him around and drag him shoulder first into a steel ring post, before getting up, ducking a Morrison clothesline, and catching Johnny with a backdrop suplex. Miz now found his way back into the ring, and DiBiase quickly got behind him and executed a cobra clutch legsweep, before going for the cover. 1… 2… Morrison jumped to break it up at the last second! Johnny got himself up, but right in the middle of DiBiase and Manu, who both got up at the same time as well. Fortunately for him, before they could decide to pounce, Tomko got himself out of the corner and recovered enough of his bearings to clothesline DiBiase from behind. Manu then charged forward, Morrison ducking him and Tomko sending him out of the ring over the top rope. Morrison then got to Rhodes, kicked him in the midsection, and tried to give him the Moonlight Drive. However, Cody maneuvered his way out of it and kicked Johnny in the gut to try to go for his flowing DDT, the Shaman of Sexy countering the same way Rhodes did just a moment ago. As soon as they both turned, Johnny caught Cody staggering into the corner with a European uppercut. Johnny then looked at Tomko and told him to get ready, before setting Cody up on the top rope and standing up on the second rope. Johnny suddenly jumped and delivered a frankensteiner which sent Cody rolling… right across the shoulders of Tomko on his back! Tomko then fired with his Argentine neck breaker finishing move, as Johnny left the ring and Maryse, of all people, pulled at DiBiase's leg to hold him back from getting involved as the goat-bearded one made the cover on Rhodes. 1… 2… 3!

"Here are your winners, John Morrison, the Miz, and Travis Tomko!"

Tomko's music came back on, as Maryse and Morrison both put their arms up in celebration at ringside, before coming over and joining the Miz to help him on his feet. Tomko, meanwhile, picked himself up and raised an arm up in victory at the nearest turnbuckle, before coming down and joining his Coalition partners. The referee came down to join in as well, so as to participate in the raising of the arms which had everybody celebrating. Backstage, Christian and Josh Matthews were watching at the monitor, Christian with a wide grin on his face.

"How do ya like them apples, kid?"

"You really think Tomko's gonna be ready for Batista and Jericho tonight?" Matthews questioned now, having good reason to after seeing that match.

"Trust me. He's Tomko. Add the extra conditioning from the past few days, he'll be way ready to go," Christian assured him, to which he nodded tentatively. "Now go ahead, kid. Scoot out. Vamoose. Go do your job somewhere else, okay?" Not wanting to draw the ire of the Show Stealer, Josh Matthews scampered off.

The Coalition members by now had just reached the top of the ramp, and now they all managed to turn around towards the ring and raise their arms once more to the adulation of the crowd, while Team Priceless recollected themselves in the ring.

With a few midcard matches and/or vignettes done and over with, at around 10:11 PM, Batista was doing squat thrusts in his locker room to get ready for the big main event tonight, when suddenly, somebody knocked on his door.

"Come in," Batista called, only to find himself disappointed, or at least braced for a heated confrontation, when he found Chris Jericho coming through the door to face him.

"What do you want?" the Animal immediately decided to skip to the chase.

"Batista, I know that you don't like me, and, quite frankly, the fact that I'm actually approaching you here right now kinda makes my skin crawl," Jericho began, allowing Batista to know right away they weren't pretending to be friends.

"Feeling's mutual," the Animal replied in understanding of the enmity between the two. "So I'm assuming you're coming to me about our match with Tomko and Christian tonight."

"Correct," Chris announced as if hosting a very mundane portion of a game show. "At Cyber Sunday, we have a match against one another, with a special guest referee which could possibly be Christian, for the World Heavyweight Championship. Tonight, we have a tag team match together against Christian and his… 'Problem Solver'. Now, you and I both know we can't trust Christian, or anybody else in that poll to be the special guest referee, as you made perfectly clear to me tonight. But I was actually thinking, while his 'Coalition' was having their little six-man tag team match, since we can't trust any of the potential referees, why don't we combined our forces just for tonight to make an example out of Christian?"

"An example, huh?"

"Yeah, an example," Jericho repeated again. "So that all of the referees, especially Christian, and even that false man of God, Shawn Michaels, realize that what they're getting involved in is not something that they can just toy around with for their own personal amusement. You and I are going to be facing off for the World Heavyweight Championship, the most prestigious title in the history of our industry. If you and I can combine our forces to make mincemeat out of Christian and Tomko, all the referees will be forced to realize that by manipulating the outcome to fit their own desires, they would be desecrating a match worthy of this title that I hold on my shoulder."

"I see your point," Batista decided to cut him off while showing agreement. "I see your point. All four of the guys on that poll can't be trusted by either one of us, so beating the crap out of Christian and his big goat-bearded, tattooed, bald-headed bitch, we scare all of 'em straight."

"Glad to see we're on the same page," Jericho stated.

"I said, I see your point. I never said anything about trusting you any more than I trust the referee options!" Batista suddenly cut in with a major bass in his voice. "So if you're serious about putting our differences aside tonight, then we should get the job done tonight. But if we don't, and it's because you double-crossed me, then I will rip you apart! Got it!?"

"You really should realize that I am an honest man, and of course I am serious about this," Jericho tried to reassure Batista, insisting on what he'd been saying ever since his mutual attack on the Jeritron and Shawn Michaels in May along the way.

"Good. We have an understanding. Now get out," Big Dave commanded, much to Jericho's surprise. "I need to get ready." In response, the Ayatollah threw on a smarmy smirk and left the locker room, closing the door behind him. Batista simply shook his head and then went back to his squat thrusts.

Backstage, the guys from Team Priceless were walking through the back, when they suddenly came across none other than the Legend Killer himself, Randy Orton.

"Congratulations. You've lost yet another match, this time against a team where one man was competing in jeans, in his first match back in the WWE, and with another match on his plate later tonight," Orton disparaged the multi-generational trio before him.

"What the hell do you want, Randy? You haven't even competed in a match here tonight," Cody retorted, not in the mood to hear Orton trash talk him.

"Well, I have the more than valid excuse that I'm injured. I sure as hell wouldn't have blown that match if I had been healthy and taken any one of your three places," the Legend Killer insisted, cold and confident in every word. It honestly shook the Priceless guys almost to their very core to be spoken to this way. "Now the view of the target on your backs has been refreshed, because every tag team on Raw not only now has a reason to laugh at you, but also now has a reason to see that you can be beaten. That is the worst situation that you could possibly put yourselves in as champions. I don't expect your title reign to go into November." He then walked away without even giving them time to retort, as if absolutely sure that he was correct and they knew it. And even in Ted DiBiase's mind, he may not have been that far off.

With only minutes before the main event, while the Raw fans just got finished being treated to the comical ramblings of Santino Marella following the man's Beth Phoenix-assisted defeat of Finlay, Maryse was actually in a conversation with Katie Lea.

"Yea, so you might want to think about what I've just told you, hun," Katie suggested.

"Certainly. I'll see you backstage at Cyber Sunday?" Maryse offered.

"Fabulous, darling. I'll be searching for you in Phoenix," Katie accepted with assurance. "Stay sinful in the meantime, darling. Someone of your various talent can't be tied down to simply dancing to the beat of Christian's drum."

"I will be venturing to accomplish my own goals, you know," Maryse retorted as if to remind her.

"As I'm sure you will. See you at US Airways," Katie Lea finally said her farewells, before walking off away from Maryse. The French-Canadian Beauty just stood there and nodded, apparently in contemplation of what she and Katie Lea just talked about.

"Hey, what were you guys just talking about?" John Morrison's voice suddenly came from behind. Maryse turned around, her facial expression making it clear she was a little annoyed.

"Hey, don't sneak up on me like that," she of course chastised the Guru of Greatness. "And just so you know, Katie Lea and I were just talking about my career goals."

"And those would be…?" Johnny asked in interest.

"To be known as the sexiest, most scandalous, most talented, and greatest Divas Champion of all time," Maryse proudly answered that question. "Did Tomko and Christian send for me?"

"They're about to leave for their match, so I figured I'd volunteer to get you back in the room to watch," Johnny replied. "Now if you wanna get there in time to wish them luck, you're gonna have to hurry."

"Fine, let's go," she quickly offered, walking past him and leading the way to the Coalition locker room, where Tomko was in his ring tights and gear, and Christian in his covered underneath the gold and white Captain Charisma jumpsuit.

"Hey Tomko, you got your wind back, right?" Christian asked as he put the hood of his jumpsuit over his head.

"Yeah, I'm ready," Tomko answered as he checked over his pads. "

"Good," Christian saud with a smile coming on. "Because tonight, after we beat Jericho and Batista, everybody on Smackdown's gonna know that the Christian Coalition is the new faction to send shockwaves through Smackdown with an iron fist.

"And even if Vickie Guerrero can't stand us, that little mob she ran, I think its name was 'La Familia', ain't got nothin' on us," recited the Miz, who was also in the room with Christian and Tomko. "Hey, speaking of which, do you guys think she's watching?"

"Of course she's watching. Whether she likes us or not, she's our boss and we're representing her show," Tomko reminded him.

"All the more reason you and I are gonna go out there and get the job done," Christian chimed in, before turning towards the door, which at that point finally chose to open, leading to the entry of John Morrison and Maryse.

"So where were ya the whole time when I came back here?" Christian questioned the Canadian Siren.

"Talking with a friend," Maryse deadpanned, not finding reason to indulge her leader in those details.

"Well, now that you're here, you can make sure Tough Enough and Real World over here pay attention to what Tomko and I do out there," Christian stated her assignment in clear reference to John Morrison and the Miz.

"Hey- hold on a second, man, that's not fair. I was the one who had to get her for you so she could remember to watch the match," Johnny protested, apparently taking offense to Christian's method of encouragement.

"Johnny, relax, I'm just kidding," Christian backed off. "Anyway, you guys tuned in?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it. We're set to watch, and not just to see what you do, but to have your back, too," Miz reinforced for the group.

"Perfect. Tomko, let's go do this thing," Christian instructed him, finally heading out the door.

"Ass-kickin' comin' up," Tomko announced as he followed suit. Johnny watch them, as if waiting for them to be out of earshot, before closing the door once they were finally far enough.

"Ten bucks says they lose," Johnny surprisingly predicted.

"Dude! You really wanna bet against Christian and Tomko when they're on a roll and we're in the same group with them?" Miz questioned his better judgment.

"Are you confident enough that you'd agree to ask Frankie's parents if you can go out with her if they lose?" Johnny suddenly challenged, an outrageous challenge to say the least.

"That is so far outta line…" Miz stopped the burst of outrage that was no doubt coming, taking a deep breath to calm down at the offensive idea that Morrison just tried to bait him with. "I'm just gonna say, I'm voting Christian and Tomko."

"Yes, now if you guys could please just shut up, we're about to see it," Maryse admonished both bickering boys as she had already grown tired of their little argument. Amazingly, it successfully shut them both up.

Some three minutes or so later, "Just Close Your Eyes" came blaring on the arena loudspeakers, and the crowd gave one of the biggest standing ovations of the night. As Christian and Travis Tomko came out, dressed and set to compete, Christian thumped his chest a couple of times and then turned around to walk backwards with his arms stretched, during which Tomko patted his shoulder and talked him up a bit. As he turned back around mid-ramp, Christian put his arms up in the CC symbol while Tomko high-fived a few of the fans. They both came into the ring via the steps and the ropes, and as Christian went to the far left turnbuckle, Tomko took the near right. Christian took off his hood, pointed a kiss, and said some words to the peeps, while Tomko did his double crowd point into a strong pose. The two came off at around the same time and high-fived mid-ring, before Christian went to the turnbuckle Tomko was on just a second ago and unbuttoned his vest to show his chest before flashing the CC sign once again, while Tomko leaned on the ropes near where Christian was and sreamed out that it was Tomko time. As the music faded, the whole entrance was given a very good reaction.

Saliva's "I Walk Alone" quickly followed suit, leading to another standing ovation from the crowd. As soon as the music picked up, Batista came out, and walked across both sides of the stage to thump his chest and pump the crowd, following which he crouched and did his Gatling gun routine, invoking the huge pyro guns behind him. Once he got up and the pyro stopped, Batista took a quick stride down the ramp, to and over the ropes, and through the ropes to get in the ring, before getting on his favorite turnbuckle and raising his arms high with a roar, then flexing his muscles downward. He then went over to the opposite turnbuckle and thumped his chest some more while screaming "Who's the man!".

The music faded out as he went down, and was quickly replaced by the countdown tunnel that signaled the coming of Chris Jericho, leading to the synchronized pyro runining along the titantron screen, leading to the "Save Me" version of his theme song. At the usual point, Jericho finally walked out, and as he went straight through the stage and down the ramp, he had on a smug smirk and allowed his head to bob, showing his arrogance amidst the chorus of boos. His face coming a little serious as he came up the steps and through the ropes, before putting down the World Heavyweight Championship in his team's cornr and quickly getting in Batista's face to berate Big Dave as if he was the commander of the team. The music faded out in the middle of it, prompting Christian and Tomko, who had left the ring during Batista's entrance, to get back in. As Christian got in the ring, Batista put his arms up as if conceding to Jericho, though not without a laugh, and retreated to the apron. Tomko stayed at the apron on his side, prompting the bell to ring with Jericho and Christian getting in each other's face.

Christian stood in front of Jericho and allowed the Ayatollah to berate him about righteousness and about how Chris was always better than him in the past so of course he was better than him now. Eventually Christian was able to find a chuckle out of all of Chris's posturing, which Chris took an offense to and replied with a slap to the face of Christian. After taking a few seconds to reel over what just happened, Captain Charisma retaliated by laying a striking slap of his own strong enough to lay Jericho down! Chris quickly scampered his way up into a corner, and Christian took advantage, advancing towards him and hitting him with a flurry of right hands to the face, adding a few left handed body stomps in the middle and a couple stomps to the gut in the end for good measure, before giving a clean break to the center of the ring and thumping his chest to posture to an approving Peepulation sect. Christian then came back over Jericho's way, and the World Champion gave a boot to Christian's chest to double him over and back him up. Jericho walked up to Christian, straightened him up, and hit his chest with a knife edge chop. Chris quickly followed up with a couple of forearms, before trying to irishwhip Christian. Captain Charisma reversed the move and met Jericho's return with a big back body drop. He then got to Jericho as the first Undisputed Champion got up in the absolute wrong corner, issuing him a right hand and a kick to the gut before tagging in Travis Tomko.

As Tomko came in the ring, he and Christian irishwhipped Jericho, and Christian intercepted his return by going down for Jericho to hurdle over him - right into a Tomko clothesline! Tomko went for the cover. 1… 2… Jericho kicked out and it already seemed a miracle. Tomko, however, quickly followed up by picking up Jericho and ramming him into his and Christian's corner, where he turned around and proceeded to reach behind and strike Jericho with several left and right elbows. Jericho kept enough wherewithal to get Tomko with a thumb to the eye as soon as he turned his body around, then tried to run off the ropes on the opposite side to do something, only for Tomko to get his wits back at the exact right time and to lift him way over his head and instantly drop him gut-first into his knee for a huge stomach breaker! As Jericho rolled around and favors his midsection in pain, much to what was actually the laughter of Batista, Tomko shouted to pump the crowd and walked Christian's way with a grin, tagging in a confident Coalition boss.

Christian took a slow but focused stroll Chris Jericho's way, picked up the Ayatollah by the head, then punched him a couple of times, before running off the opposite ropes presumably to try to knock him over with a clothesline. Jericho somehow was able to counter into a flapjack landing Christian neck first into the top rope, staggering him big time. Chris took advantage, running off the ropes behind Christian and coming back with a clothesline to the back of the head. He then covered Christian, who kicked out after two. Jericho picked up Christian now, though Christian jerked his hand away and hit a couple right hands, before running off the ropes in front of Jericho, but the World Champion caught on and sent him flipping down with a kitchen sink knee to the gut. Jericho then dashed Tomko's way and gave him a cheap shot out of the ring, to which Tomko responded by dashing back up the apron and trying to storm through the ropes. This distracted the ref long enough for Jericho to get down on Christian and choke him for a good few seconds. Jericho then dragged Christian by the arm into his team's corner, where he tagged in Batista, who came into the ring and actually instructed Jericho to "let go, I've got this".

Jericho did so and retreated, allowing Batista to pick up Christian and turn him over into the corner, where he proceeded to ram his shoulder into him multiple times. Batista then shot off Christian with an irishwhip, but Christian was able to not only hold on to the ropes, but get down and slide out under the ropes, recollecting himself on the outside. This idea actually turned out to be a mistake, as Jericho immediately came down, dashed around ringside, knocked Christian down with a cheap shot from behind, and successfully ran away from Tomko as soon as the Problem Solver made chase. As Christian slowly picked himself up, Batista came over and reached down over the ropes to grab him and get him up into the ring.

No quicker did Batista manage to get him up on the apron than Christian immediately got him with a hangman, then slid into the ring and hit him with a quick Russian legsweep. Christian took the opportunity to punch Batista's head on the ground for a good flurry, before getting back up and pointing straight at Jericho to talk some smack. Christian then came back to Batista, who was now on his knees, only for Big Dave to suddenly lift Christian upside down on his back, before falling backwards to drop him in a mountain bomb. Batista then waited for Christian to start getting back up, before running off the ropes in front of him and coming back to kick him right in the face, knocking him back on his back. Batista then went straight to Jericho and tagged him in with a sharp tag to the chest, leaving Jericho a little flabbergasted as Batista just went straight to the apron without a care in the world. Chris furiously came into the ring and pointed an accusing finger at Batista, before seeing Christian starting to move. Jericho then ran off the ropes and executed a senton to Christian's midsection, following which he hooked Christian's leg for a cover. 1, 2, kickout by the Man of the Peeps. Jericho quickly got up and helped Christian pick himself up, before sending Christian through the upper ropes to the outside of the irng. Chris then took the opportunity to get up in Batitsta's face and gesture with his arms out while talking trash to the big man at the same time. Batista responded with a crowd-erupting slap to Jericho's face! Jericho immediately tried to retaliate, but Batista ducked, and the two ended up pointing fingers in a shouting match as the show went to commercial break.

Once back from commercials, we saw Jericho taking an advantage on Tomko, chopping his chest a couple of times, before trying to irishwhip him. Travis countered, of course, only for Jericho to duck his big boot return greeting, get him down on his knees with a forearm shove him behind, and position him throat/neck first on the second rope.

"Shut up, parasites!" Jericho shouted at the fans as he walked off, before he stepped up his pace and ran off the ropes in order to attack Tomko's back with a body guillotine. Jericho then tried to cover Tomko, only for Christian to come in and break it up after one. Jericho picked up Tomko, but the Problem Solver jerks him away and tried to go for a right hand. Jericho got behind him, then tripped Tomko's legs out from underneath him, sending the Problem Solver falling face first. Jericho then tagged in Batista with a hard tap to the chest, for which Batista looked at him like a crazy fool for a second before coming in. Batista came over Tomko's way and quickly came down to issue him multiple furious rights to the back of his head, the flurry only stopping once the referee finally grew some balls and decided to start a DQ count for him. Batista then got up and picked up Tomko by the head, before attempting to irishwhip him. Tomko was able to not only counter, but pull back Batista to get him with a quick clothesline!

The two took long enough to get up that the crowd ended up starting a Last Man Standing count, which ended up at three by the time the two men stirred and at five by the time they actually both got up to their vertical bases. Tomko and Batista both got up at the same time, and Tomko hit Batista with a right hand. Batista hit Tomko with a right hand. Tomko fired back again. So did Batista. One more Tomko right hand. One more Batista right hand. And finally, Batista took the advantage, irishwhipped Tomko, and hit Tomko with a scoop power slam. Batista covered Tomko again, and the Problem Solver managed a kickout after the count of two. Batista then picked up Tomko and shot him off into the Batista-Jericho corner, following up by hitting a clothesline which shook Tomko to his core and sent him taking a seat in the corner.

Jericho then tried to tag himself in right then and there, but Batista saw it coming and stepped aside to dodge it. Jericho then questioned Batista, only for Batista to tag him by putting a hand on his shoulder. Yet another partner-astounded-at-the-audacity-within-a-tag moment ensued, before Jericho ran off the ropes the other way and came down on Tomko's chest with a lower dropkick. Jericho dragged Tomko to get him on his back, then covered him. 1, 2, and Tomko got a foot on the bottom rope. Jericho got up in the referee's face and complained about it after the ref told him what happened, and this gave Tomko enough time to get up. However, Jericho turned around in time to be able to jump on Tomko's back, using this position to try and get the big man in a sleeper hold. Tomko tried to move around and do something, but could never quite collect his bearings before his legs gave in on him a little bit. He ended up down on one knee, Jericho able to get ground under his feet and tug and pull even harder on the neck of Tomko. At this point, Christian began to get a little inspired, turning to the crowd and announcing that he was going to start a Tomko chant.

Christian did exactly as he said he was gonna do, starting the chant and banging the top turnbuckle in his corner in order to lead the crowd in its beat. Soon the entire crowd was chanting the name of Tomko in hopes of getting the longtime Coalition enforcer back up on his feet. Sooner than later, this was starting to reap some benefits, as Tomko started feeding off the crowd in order to get himself back up to a vertical base, then back his way into a neutral corner hard to force Jericho to let go. Tomko, of course, crashed to his knees in pain, but was still able to crawl evel closer to his boss, until finally, right as Jericho got up, he made the tag.

Christian then came into the ring, and he and Jericho charged after one another, Christian firing a clothesline. Jericho bounced back up, only to receive a clothesline of his own. Batista, who's just managed to get in the ring, had a clothesline of his own sidestepped by Christian. Jericho got back up, got shot off into a corner by Christian, staggered forward back into Christian's direction, and ended up being lifted for a big back body drop, but landing in Batista's arms set for a power bomb. Batista had enough awareness to recognize that it was his partner and let go, but that was barely saying much of anything, and it didn't matter much as Jericho was quickly caught from behind by Christian and slammed diwn into a falling inverted DDT. Batista then charged after Christian, who was able to back his way into the ropes, which he quickly low bridged to send Batista over the top. Big Dave, however, managed to hold on and land on his feet on the outside, where he collected his breath a little bit. Christian turned back around to Jericho, who then proceeded to kick him in the midsection, shoot him off into a corner hard enough for him to bounce off, then run off the ropes behind him and hit his patented bulldog. He quickly got right back up and executed his springboard lionsault on Christian for a cover! 1… 2… kickout by Christian! Jericho then waited for Christian to get back up and tried to take him down by the legs in order to turn him into the Walls of Jericho, but got nowhere with the second step as Christian kicked him backwards into the ropes, knocking Batista off the apron he'd just gotten back on!

Jericho then took a missile dropkick from Christian, who went for a cover of his own. 1, 2, kickout by the Savior Self! Jericho and Christian both got up, and Jericho ended up kicking Christian in the midsection, before getting him with a double underhook into a backbreaker. Jericho then covered Christian, who kicked out after two yet again! A shocked Jericho now looked at the referee in total frustration, before getting back up at around the same slow, pained pace as Christian. At this same time, Batista was getting back in the ring, and Christian was in his line of fire. Out of the corner of his eye, Christian saw Batista getting set for a spear, and as soon as both he and Jericho were up and the Animal charged, Christian pulled Jericho in the way and ducked, allowing Batista's spear to hit Jericho! After a moment of shock which was much approved by the fans, Batista turned in Christian's direction to try to hit him now. But Tomko had gotten in the ring now and punched Batista in the back. Christian, on his knees, turned around and punched Batista in the midsection now. Before picking himself up and teaming with Tomko to send Batista out of the ring. Tomko then retreated to his team's corner at the apron as Jericho picked himself up, then staggered backwards right into Christian… who now had Jericho caught, twisted, and slammed in the Unprettier! Christian rolled Jericho on his back and got the cover. 1… 2… 3!

"Here are your winners, Travis Tomko and Christian!"

Lilian Garcia's proud announcement resonated as Tomko got himself back into the ring and struggled to help his victorious leader back on his two feet. Once they were both back up, the referee came in between them and raised both of their arms in victory. While Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole at the announcer's table finally noted the genius behind Christian's latest conquest of Chris Jericho, the crowd were on their feet in huge support of Captain Charisma and the Problem Solver. However, speaking of feet, there was somebody else who just dashed into the ring behind Christian and Tomko, that someone else being "the Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels. And as soon as Christian lowered his arms and turned around, he was caught the victim of Sweet Chin Music! The music abruptly stopped, and now Tomko turned as well, then tried to charge a clothesline at Michaels only for Shawn to duck and hit him with Sweet Chin Music as well!

"Nobody's gonna stop me from doing what I gotta do!" Michaels shouted down with a pointed finger at Tomko and Christian, before performing a DX chop just for good measure. No sooner did that crowd-scream-inducing moment happen than John Morrison and the Miz came rushing down the ramp and into the ring themselves, to which Michaels calmly left the ring and simply walked away up the ramp without looking back. Had he looked back, he would've seen John Morrison yelling that he was gonna get him for this. The Showstopped had actually gotten up on the stage and was almost gone behind the curtains…

…until suddenly, a glass shattered into "I Won't Do What You Tell Me".

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin's theme music just erupted the arena!

As Miz, Morrison, and even Michaels stood frozen in shock, having not heard anything of whether he was coming all night, the Texas Rattlesnake made his way out to the arena and actually walked a step past Shawn Michaels before he stopped and gave him a good long glance. Once that glance was done, Austin was already asking for Steveweisers. Thinking there was no threat involved, Michaels tried to walk away, only for Austin to turn him around and crack the beer can over his head! He then beat away at him in a furious assault of right hands in the mount position, before getting up and stalking away at Michaels, beckoning him to get up three times before Shawn could actually fully do so. Once he did raise up and turn around, however, HBK was rendered victim to a Stone Cold Stunner! Austin merely dusted his hands now, before his theme song came back on and he started asking for more Steveweisers. He would indulge in emptying out the materials inside many a beer can into his own belly for about five minutes with the Christian Coalition watching all of it in the ring, though only the first 26 seconds of Stone Cold's latest one-man beer party would find themselves recorded on-air.

-

A/N: Yeah, Jericho's still the World Heavyweight Champion at the point I'm still at. Shows how much I've fallen behind, huh? And if the direction for Cyber Sunday wasn't made obvious before, it's sure as hell obvious now.

-Pac.


	12. STORY CANCELED

_**State of Takeover: Cause That's How I Roll!**_ by Instant Classic Superstar Pac

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and this is not linked to any of my other stories.

Rating: T

Summary: Right as she declares unfinished business, Captain Charisma suddenly returns and is talking to her. The result is the first seed of a new Coalition set to turn the world upside down. (Christian, Maryse, Tomko, Morrison, Miz. DISCONTINUED.)

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**STORY CANCELED**

_Event Date: never_

Location: nowhere

Ladies and gentlemen, after the absolute bullcrap I bore witness to at Victory Road 2009, I've completely lost any inspiration to write wrestling anymore.

Yes, I know, this story is here as the result of my vision for it completely overtaking the vision that I had for an Undertaker vs. Edge story which would've had elements of a new age Ministry vs. Brood kinda thing, to the point where I actually felt the need to cancel that story in order to try and execute this one. Let me recant how that story's plot would become cemented, start to thicken, so on and so forth, even though some of that is affected by how I'd see it happening if I were working it now.

(WARNING: the following massive spoiler session is on both the original Scarlet Cloak unveils story and this Christian Coalition story, neither of which will be continued after this.)

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Undertaker sending Edge to hell at SummerSlam in 2008 would be revealed as the culmination of a master plan between Undertaker and Vickie, leading to Undertaker becoming the evil heel overlord once again as well as taking vengeance upon Edge for Money in the Bank 2007 and securing Vickie's managerial position. Chavo Guerrero and Bam Neely would've chickened away from the situation, while Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder would take up a hearty but hopeless fight against Undertaker and Vickie's regime, only to receive an unlikely assist from none other than Gangrel, coming through the very same spot in the ring Undertaker choke slammed Edge through at SummerSlam. Within a place called the Brood Chambers in Tampa, Florida, two characters would wind up with their thoughts explored and large implications that they were Gangrel and Edge respectively, then a third character implies as a lover of Edge (yeah, I think you know where this one is going) would see Edge's silouette from outside her home in Atlanta. Also taking up the fight against Undertaker would be then-World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk from Raw, who always respected Undertaker until he learned about his disgusting act of evil.

At Unforgiven, this would all culminate. Undertaker would cost CM Punk and secure Kane the World Heavyweight Championship in the scramble match (Randy Orton would punt Rey Mysterio out of the equation instead of Punk), to which Punk would **demand** to be shipped to Smackdown and eventually get it. Meanwhile, Undertaker would take on Gangrel, and before winning, he would summon a group he refers to as his "Hollow Sanctum", making some reference to _Charmed_ in the process, and I think it would be Victoria and the Bashams. Anyway, they'd corner Gangrel until Edge's old theme suddenly came on, and Edge came out through the crowd on a Spear frenzy and as a bit of a hybrid himself between Rated-R Superstar Edge and evil Brood Edge.

The following Smackdown, Edge and Gangrel would end up caught in a trap by the Hollow Sanctum, which I think CM Punk, Hawkins and Ryder would've tried to help them out of to no avail, then Lita's old music and dark blue lighting would come on and distract the situation, to which she would come out of nowhere and take out Victoria. Edge and Gangrel would then chase Undertaker and the Bashams away, and the trio later to be known as Project Rebirth would stand proud and tall in the ring together, Edge and Lita showing signs of reconciliation (but not romance again yet, that would probably come later). Undertaker would come pissed off the following week, only for Project Rebirth to assert their stand and to question whether Undertaker did what he did because Edge stole the title from him or because Edge was the one former Ministry follower he could never truly control at all over the entire decade they've walked the same ground in WWE.

The feud between the Hollow Sanctum and Project Rebirth would get really heated up, and new elements would be introduced to it as well. Punk, Hawkins, and Ryder would form a faction of their own called the Cult of Personality in an ironic message, after the song by In Living Colour that Punk used to use in the indies and this group would use. Both Edge and Punk's groups would fight against the Sanctum, though from time to time they'd get pitted against each other. Meanwhile, Gail Kim would eventually debut fresh off release from TNA and be the Matrix girl again like she was the first time she was in WWE, and she'd join the Cult of Personality. Punk's main rival that he'd end up fighting wouldn't be Undertaker or Edge, though. It would be Umaga, who obviously would become the second star and enforcer of the Hollow Sanctum. Hawkins and Ryder would exchange the tag straps with the Bashams in a good back and forth feud there as well.

Eventually it would get to the point where WWE Champion Triple H and Divas Champion Michelle McCool would be forced to take notice of the situation. Why? Because they'd be forced into it via an intergender four-way team elimination double title match at Armageddon at the end of the year, in which the winning team not only got the titles, but any one executive decision they choose. It would be them vs. Punk and Gail vs. Edge and Lita vs. Taker and Victoria.

Over the buildup to that one, both Punk and Edge would fight to disband the Sanctum, Taker would fight to have both Rebirth and Personality fired, and because Trips wouldn't give a rat's ass about any of this, McCool would fight to have herself ordained Divas Champion forever. Also, Edge and Lita would finally get back together over the last couple weeks heading in.

At the finale, Punk would get pinned for his team to lose and McCool get pinned on hers, since we all know that Triple H almost never accepts getting pinned without a stroke of luck or screw job involved, and then Edge, Lita, Taker, and Victoria would carry the match further, make it Match of the Year good, and Edge and Lita would score a double pin at the end, with both Rebirth and the Cult celebrating together in the end.

-

Now for a break from the mass spoiler session.

Of course, what I wanted to do with the Scarlet Cloak story up there was before I suddenly got numerous ideas on how Christian could form new Coalitions both in WWE and TNA, and the idea which this story presents, the one of Maryse, Tomko, Morrison, and Miz being Christian's Coalition Smackdown, basically took over my creative process to the point I had to go for it and sacrifice the vision of my Edge/Lita Rebirth story. Sadly, I got so stuck with the Palace of Wisdom chapter it would stifle my process, which basically killed it from there as I began to see it as more of a chore than a vision to even get to writing. Around the same time, yet another idea started festering and taking up mindspace. But despite containing feature OCs that I would see played by Edge and Randy Orton on opposite sides respectively, this one was really related to _Charmed_ rather than wrestling, plus I was still putting a lot of thought into the Coalition vision as well, so I was still mentally convinced that if I got to writing, I would be able to put enough focus into both to be able to continue on. As a matter of fact, I still managed to get halfway into what was supposed to be chapter 12 here, having several little programs set up for the Coalition to work with for awhile - namely Shawn Michaels, the second-generation guys, Michelle McCool, Jesse and Festus, and every black hood-style character in WWE. Also… oh, speaking of which, back to the mass spoiler session for just a minute here.

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The Coalition would've won all their matches this chapter, and at Cyber Sunday, Johnny would win the US title, and while Miz and Tomko wouldn't beat the Colons for the tag straps then, they'd end up beating them later. However, what I was _really_ interested in was proceeding to what I would do at Survivor Series, when I'd have the Project Rebirth vs. Hollow Sanctum storyline somewhat revisited again, though not entirely rehashed.

Survivor Series, following Gail Kim returning and winning the Divas title and Brie Bella getting fired through the revelation of her Basham act with Nikki all via a Divas battle royal style gauntlet match, Christian's Coalition would go against 5 of Vickie's "warriors" in a traditional Survivor Series match (prior to which they never tell who their fifth partner is). After several teasing hints, however, you'd have probably figured out that it would be Edge, which it was. But after Edge and Christian were the two survivors, Edge would turn on Christian with a chair and get chased away by the Coalition. Then, through messing with the lights, Edge and Gangrel would eventually turn up near the end of the WWE title match between Triple H, Kozlov, and Jeff Hardy, and beat the crap out of everybody in that match. Originally I would've had Lita there with them to completely bring in the original Project Rebirth I had in mind again, giving us good material for a confrontation between Edge, Lita, Christian, Tomko, and our guest Trish Stratus, but if I did it now I would've had Katie Lea join them and Lita appear as a guest on Smackdown, which I'll get to in a bit.

The crazed Edge would basically vow revenge against Vickie, but not by terrorizing her exactly. He'd do it by trying to kill Smackdown, taking out superstars one by one because in his opinion everybody abandoned him in favor of Vickie. Hawkins and Ryder would appear to see about joining Edge, but he would see that they turned their backs on him too and thus would vow to destroy them in the end as well. Despite being creeped out by this, they'd end up allies to Project Rebirth anyway. Meanwhile, a lady would come along and try to talk down Edge for a couple weeks, getting saved from a precarious situation by the Coalition the first time and then completely set up and Speared by Edge the second time. Said second time would also feature Randy Orton, who by then would've formed Legacy on Raw, including Natalya via the trade that would send Katie to Smackdown, coming to Smackdown as a guest to RKO Christian, thus making himself a aprt of Edge's plan. Someone from Hollywood Randy's been talking to about supporting Legacy would then come out and confront him about what he was involved in, and he would successfully talk them down into supporting Legacy. Thus, the issues between Christian's Coalition and the next-generation guys would continue as well, spiraling the Raw feud of Legacy and a "street team" for John Cena and the Smackdown feud of Coalition and Rebirth (plus H&R) together.

Originally, when I planned for Lita to be a part of Rebirth, the second lady guest in the picture would've been either Alyssa Milano or Stacy Keibler, and the Legacy Hollywood dude would've been Julian McMahon (who on top of being a famous actor is the son of a former Australian prime minister, so that would make him second generation famous). But after my plans were modified, Lita was in perfect position to be the lady to try and fail to talk Edge down, and I'd decided the Rock was a better choice for the Hollywood Legacy sponsor. Speaking of which, at a special Saturday Night's Main Event before Armageddon, the faction wars would collide and in the end, Randy Orton would betray Edge only to get betrayed by the Rock, who would leave for Hollywood again. Also like to mention, in the middle of this, the eventual pairing within the Coalition would finally be revealed to be **John Morrison and Maryse**.

At Armageddon, in a four-on-four match of Coalition vs. Rebirth, Hawkins and Ryder would end up scoring the pin on Tomko, making themselves 1 contenders for the tag titles, which they would win at the end of the year. Meanwhile, the WWE title match was attempted again, except this time with Undertaker as the fourth man. But Undertaker would disappear at the beginning of the match, reappear at the end to surprise and take out Triple H, then disappear and reappear again at the stage sitting down on the Ministry throne once again. You know where this is going.

The following Smackdown is when the Hollow Sanctum plot would be revealed in this story, and Edge would only become angrier at everyone but Gangrel and his lady knowing how the deck had been stacked against him all along. Though, this time, Undertaker would simply administrate creepily rather than fight for awhile after ordaining himself the Lord of Smackdown. Meanwhile, Hawkins and Ryder would be involved in Chavo Guerrero and MVP's new agency, "Better Than You, Inc.", playing detectives in order to investigate who got Alyssa/Stacy/Lita to come to Smackdown anyway. Oh, and initially that's where Katie Lea was gonna end up, but I'd later decided on giving life back to Victoria through doing that.

After No Way Out, where Maryse would win a multi-woman match to capture the Divas title and Miz and Tomko would recapture the tag team titles from Hawkins and Ryder, the story would come to a head at WrestleMania, where a multi-woman Divas title match would have bearing on a multi-man WWE Championship match (the winning Diva getting to legally interfere in the main event at WrestleMania). Triple H, who a feud with Christian would've been teased the whole time, would obviously be in there, defending the WWE title and taking on Michelle McCool as an associate. Maryse of course would be aligned with Christian through the Coalition. Project Rebirth and Better Than You, Inc. would've had their usual alliances. Gail Kim would probably be stuck with, uh… probably either Kozlov, Umaga, or Big Show, which wouldn't really go well. Maria would be paired with Jeff Hardy. And Undertaker wouldn't be involved here, solely because he'd probably be dustin' off the old boots and gloves and "defending Smackdown's honor" against either Shawn Michaels or John Cena.

Maryse would win her match, and her interference would offset Michelle McCool trying to cheat Christian out as he and Triple H (who would be booed to hell at Mania) were the last two men left. In the end, Christian would get the Unprettier and the pin on Trips, finally becoming WWE Heavyweight Champion and getting the huge celebration he deserves, complete with confetti, fireworks, the Coalition, all the peeps storming the arena, and everything it entails. WrestleMania also features the conclusion of Edge coming back to his senses, culminated in Lita showing up again and receiving a heartfelt apology from Edge prior to the big WWE title match.

It would continue on after this point, where the party and the after party continues at the hotel, and Christian eventually sets the Coalition together and says they did everything they came to do, and they got all the titles, though now he's got a decision he's thinking about making that he wants to tell them on Smackdown. On Smackdown, he'd announce that after much deliberation and thought he's given to this, it's kinda bittersweet to say, but the Christian Coalition is now officially disbanded. Through the questions from the partners, he'd explain that they have done everything they came to do. They have cemented themselves as the future of WWE, and they have grabbed all the title belts on Smackdown. There is nothing bigger that they can do together, and he would rather see the Coalition quit while as far ahead of any other group as ever than die in disgrace and betrayal like all the other stables in wrestling. However, he'd maintain that through their success, they are bound together in history forever, and he'd make it clear: Miz and Tomko can continue to be a tag team. Johnny and Maryse can continue to be together. The five of them can all continue to be friends. But the Christian Coalition as an actual faction is officially dead on the mountaintop.

Also, his final act as leader of the Christian Coalition was to get an elimination match booked between the four guys to determine who gets which title (first 2 out get tag titles, last man out gets the US title, and the winner gets the WWE belt), with Maryse as the guest referee. All the titles end up staying in the same hands, and the Coalition celebrates and hugs in the ring to Flipsyde's song "Champion" for one last time on Smackdown. Speaking of Flipsyde, they would've made more guest appearances throughout the story, possibly at WrestleMania too. And I absolutely recommend you guys check out their music if you wanna hear some meaningful kickass talent at work. There's a lot holding back the process, but they deserve to get big.

A continuation could've also come into play, where months later at SummerSlam, Miz and Tomko are still a united double act but are no longer tag team champions, instead involved in a US title match. Meanwhile, John Morrison and Maryse both end up losing their titles and while not exactly breaking up violently would just gradually grow apart, though Johnny would earn a WWE title shot against Christian and Jeff Hardy in a triple threat match. The draft would've happened by then, Triple H would be Raw, Chris Jericho would be Smackdown, and Jericho and Edge would have their own feud going on. The WWE title match would be the sub-main event (Raw's WHC match involving somebody from the Triad of HHH, Cena, and Batista would of course have to take precedence). Christian would play the heel in this rivalry, or should I say the most heelish of the three faces here, but John Morrison would come away with the WWE Championship and Christian would eventually shake his hand and hug him again out of respect and in memory of their time within the Coalition.

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Finally, the mass spoiler session is over. Now for something that I really have to say. If I were still completely full of life about wrestling, I'd have been happy to split time between my Charmed season fanfic that I'm working on getting underway and State of Takeover, with my Dragon Ball Z/Tenchi Muyo crossover Shift of Hearts getting somewhat minimal bits of attention. I would've finally gotten down and willed myself to start actively writing again, since I wanted to get all of this at least somewhere into the tail end by 2010. And remember, Scarlet Cloak is already canceled, so it only would've applied to State of Takeover here in the wrestling section.

But via feeding me the utterly vile crap that was Victory Road this past Sunday, **TNA** ironically has just committed an act of terrorism upon my wrestling vision and fandom that it's going to take me awhile to fully recover from. More importantly, the main effect of this act of terrorism as it relates to fan fiction was that now I absolutely do not have the patience to write a long, drawn-out wrestling storyline anymore. That doesn't mean that I won't ever do wrestling fanfics again. Sometime or another, I might get inspired to do a one-shot or two, or to help someone or another with a story that they're doing (the latter of which I'm already doing for Christie, a.k.a. Rated-R-Enigma, on one triangle-related fanfic which if she would stop her usual disappearing acts I'm still committed to helping her with). And if anyone wants to borrow any of the original ideas that I would've employed in either discontinued wrestling fic as detailed in the mass spoilers, either the exact same way or with your own changes, just be sure to tell me about it first and you have my word you can do it and I'll be sure to check it out. But my passion has been drained enough through the incompetence that TNA has shown me is actually possible that I have lost the patience for this as far as wrestling is concerned. I cannot invest myself in wrestling enough to do any sort of planning for a long term fic by it.

However, as I've said before, I have a Charmed fan fiction saga in the works involving a couple of characters that would be played by Edge and Randy Orton if I had my way. The first two fics I have in mind there are two-chapter shorts basically there to build up the Edge-based character's background and mission heading into the big season-size fic I plan to have come together. If any of you guys are Charmed fans right now or open to learning about the show in spite of its last episode being three years old, then be sure to get your references in order and check it out. Other than that, don't expect me to start working on anything long term here in the wrestling section for the time being.

For those of you peeps who were really looking forward to seeing more from me as far as State of Takeover or even Scarlet Cloak (even though that's already been canceled and deleted) goes, I'm sorry to leave you guys disappointed. But I just have to distance my passion and creativity from any long term commitment to wrestling for the time being. I'm still gonna be watching the shows and taping Raw and Smackdown on my VCR like I do every week, though since I've already accepted that TNA's death is near, the middle two hours on the tape are gonna be dedicated to ECW and Superstars instead of TNA Impact. But I just can't help but think right now that one one hand, there are these dedicated fans and fan fiction writers. People like me… no, people like **us** who can have a vision in our minds of a story related to some of our most and least favorite wrestlers and are able to map it out, think ahead by even up to 7 months, and know what objective we're trying to accomplish and how it would get done. Then there's WWE and TNA management and creative, the people that run the shows and the people they've got writing them, who 86 percent of the time seem incapable of even thinking beyond a couple of months, and in TNA's case the one time they manage to think two years ahead is how to give the long-argued so-called "world's greatest wrestler" enough power to take over and kill their own entire company. It's a joke that we can be so passionate about this and come up with good ongoing stories for it, even though most of them are centered around pairings, yet 86 percent of what the professionals write, dictate, and present to us every week looks thrown together, underdeveloped, and more or less completely limiting and misusing the majority of the men and women who bust their asses to carry it out every week. The only wrestling show that's generally exempt from this criticism right now is **Smackdown**, and I thank _**GOD**_ for that program.

I recognize there's a huge irony here in that more of my wrestling-based attention goes to the company I've been writing about, yet my ability to feel it enough in general to write about it is cut dramatically, all because of the other company's crap. Those of you that are still stickin' to it regularly, stay gold and genuine, and make sure you get your dreams out. Oh, and good luck, too. Cause you're all gonna need it for awhile. Meanwhile, I'll be focusing my energies on a Charmed fanfic season and an anime crossover I've been overdue for updates on for years.

See ya later.

Bang.

-Pac.


End file.
